


Star Wars: Episode X - The Rescue Mission

by JediPrincess_K



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Comfort, Comfort Reading, F/M, Happy Ending, Rated PG, World Between Worlds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:41:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 53,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24192988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JediPrincess_K/pseuds/JediPrincess_K
Summary: In the weeks after the Battle of Exegol, Rey Skywalker has taken on Finn as a Padawan while Poe leads the Resistance in trying to finish off the First Order. Rey comes to learn that Ben Solo may not be dead after all, but trapped in a mysterious dimension called the World Between Worlds. Rey is determined to bring him back to the physical world, but Ben has plenty of plans for rescuing more than just himself--and he needs Rey's help.
Relationships: Finn/Rose Tico, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Zorii Bliss/Poe Dameron
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33





	1. Opening Crawl

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

STAR  
WARS

EPISODE X  
THE RESCUE MISSION

The Resistance has defeated Emperor Palpatine and his Final Order, but the evil FIRST ORDER is furious and determined not to give up. With its hyperspace tracking capabilities, it continues to harass the RESISTANCE. General Poe Dameron leads a task force dedicated to finishing the First Order once and for all, as well as finding the Star Destroyer _Derriphan_ , which annihilated Kijimi and remains unaccounted for.

Meanwhile, Lando Calrissian and Jannah, as well as other former stormtroopers, are on a mission to find their long-lost homes. As they travel the galaxy, they send messages to First Order soldiers, inviting them to defect and join the search for their families.

REY SKYWALKER, along with her first Padawan, Finn, have begun training together. Spirits of Jedi past have occasionally appeared to her and shared their wisdom. However, the one she longs to hear from the most is the one who has not yet appeared. . .


	2. Dreams

_Tatooine is so like Jakku,_ Rey thought as she boarded the _Millennium Falcon. I've had enough sand to last me forever._ She started up the ship's engines and headed away from the planet as quickly as possible. She would return to Ajan Kloss, where Finn was waiting for her and hopefully practicing what she'd told him to work on during her solo trek to Tatooine. The Resistance headquarters was as much a home to them as any place, yet she still felt unsettled. It wasn't really home. But nowhere was. 

At first, she'd taken Finn to Ahch-To. It was so easy to connect with the Force there, and it was there that Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Qui-Gon Jinn had spoken with her, teaching her in a way no one living could. She'd given Finn his lessons there. But it was a lonely place with just the two of them and the caretakers, and both she and Finn, having been starved of real companionship with others for most of their lives, wanted to return to their friends in the Resistance. 

Still, as they'd left Ahch-To for Ajan Kloss, she'd been suddenly slammed by a memory—the memory of how she'd felt when Han Solo had offered her a job way back on Takodana. She'd wanted nothing more than to take it, but to do so would mean abandoning all hope that she'd ever reconnect with her family. She knew Jedi spirits could appear anywhere, but it seemed most likely Ben would appear to her on Ahch-To as the others had. She'd called for him more times than she could count, and there were a few times she thought maybe she sensed his presence, but always when she looked around, or strained to listen, there was nothing. Ben. Ben...

Tears fell from Rey's eyes. Once in hyperspace, she made her way back to her bunk. Pulling open a drawer, she removed a set of black clothing. Leaning back in the bunk, she lifted the clothing to her face. One day soon, these clothes would no longer carry his scent, but for now she inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. Lying down fully, she clutched the clothing to herself and fell asleep.

"Rey! Rey!" The call came from far away. She was standing in the cave on Ahch-To. 

"Ben!" she yelled, as she looked around wildly. 

"Rey! Can you hear me?" Yes, yes, she could her him, but he didn't seem to be able to hear her.

Her heart beat a mile a minute. "Ben! Where are you?"

"Rey! I need you. I need you!"

Rey woke and sat up with a start, breathing hard. A dream! It was only a dream, she thought bitterly. But though she was now awake, the lingering dream did not evaporate. Trying to remember a normal dream was like attempting to grab onto smoke, but she could remember this one clearly. 

She had already had six dreams like this one, all exactly the same except for the location. In the first one, she'd been on Jakku. It had been so vivid that she'd had half a mind to fly off to Jakku, just to see if Ben would show up there for some incomprehensible reason. But she'd abandoned that crazy idea after having another dream the next night. In that dream, she'd been on Starkiller Base in a control room. There were people all around, but none could see her or hear Ben's voice. Since Starkiller Base no longer existed, she concluded there was nothing real about either dream. 

A week later, she'd dreamt she was on Exegol when she'd heard Ben call her name and tell her he needed her. Over the following weeks, she'd dreamt that she was on Naboo and in Luke's Jedi temple, places she'd only seen in pictures and holos. 

Finally, five days ago she'd dreamt she was on Alderaan, but how she knew that, she didn't know. She'd seen many pictures and holos of Alderaan, particularly as she'd gotten to know Leia, and Leia had shown her images of her old home. But the place she had been standing in the dream wasn't any of those. Immediately upon wakening, she'd looked up images of Alderaan, especially places associated with the royal family, and discovered that she had been standing in the gardens of a rural manor house belonging to the family. She could easily have believed her mind was just dredging up places associated with Ben and his family and inserting them into her dreams, but how could she dream of a place that had really existed but which she had never seen? 

Now she had dreamt of the cave on Ahch-To, but that cave had yielded no answers when she'd looked there before, when she was training with Luke and had wanted to know more about her parents.

She closed her eyes and focused on his voice. _Rey, I need you,_ he had said. Through the Force she could see people long gone, or have visions—though unclear and changeable—of the future. What, then, was this? Sighing, she replayed the dream in her mind. She could think of nothing else but what it meant, until she arrived at Ajan Kloss and turned her thoughts to flying down to the surface safely.

It was the early hours of the morning when she arrived at the Resistance base. Finn wouldn't be up now, and she'd just recently slept on the _Falcon_ , so she headed out into the jungle for a walk and to clear her mind by communing with the Force, the beauty of the living rainforest all around her. She sat down against a tree and forced herself to relax her mind and reach out to feel the Force. In her heart she felt it was fruitless, but she gave it her full attention. She felt the rhythms of life above her, below her, and around her. She felt the Force flow through her and revitalize her. It gave her strength. 

No matter what came, no matter if she never spoke to him again, she had a purpose: to listen for the will of the Force and do her best to carry it out, spreading its light to the dark reaches of the galaxy where the rule of evil for decades had all but extinguished it, and where for centuries before that, the Jedi had cared more and more for their dogma than the heartbeat of life, and had missed what the Force was trying to tell them. They had done much good, but they had not brought balance, either; rather, they had practiced certain extremes. Centuries of permanently separating toddlers from their families would end if she had anything to do with it. Centuries of prohibiting marriage and childbearing would reach its end. Centuries of teaching the next generation to suppress their emotions, rather than learning how to experience them in a healthy way, would come to an end on her watch. Shunning emotions wasn't balance, that was the extreme. The galaxy needed the light, but the Jedi needed to be reborn as something they had not been for a long, long time. Her eyes closed, and she whispered her promises into the fading night as if speaking to the Force itself and the generations to come, but something told her to open her eyes. She nearly yelped, so startled was she to see the figure before her. A Jedi spirit smiled at her. "You're right," he said.

"What?" Rey's brain was still trying to catch up.

"About the Jedi. They meant well, but the heartache they caused was their downfall." 

Rey recognized him from pictures and holos. "You're Anakin Skywalker, aren't you?"

He smiled again, so handsome and boyish. "Yes." The smile vanished as quickly as it had come. "If I hadn't been scared to death to tell Obi-Wan or Yoda that I had a pregnant wife I thought was going to die in childbirth, the galaxy would be a different place."

Rey felt compassion for this man who was so like Ben. "Are you...can you be at peace?"

Anakin looked out into the forest. "Yes. I am one with the Force. I am in synch with its heartbeat, its flow. Time and distance have little meaning. I can look down on the galaxy from above, or come face-to-face with the smallest creature. I can ride an ocean's waves, or study every intricacy of the most beautiful flower. Those of us on the other side can commune with each other—even the spirits of those who were not Force-sensitive, like my mother and Padmé—in a wordless way that is impossible to describe to you." Anakin's mouth crooked up into a one-sided smile at the mention of his wife, and Rey could easily imagine how dazzled Padmé had been by him. "But only those who could use the Force in life can make themselves heard or seen in the living world after death. Removed as we are, we can only come when the Force calls us to a great need. Even then we can only guide and teach; we can't fight your battles for you or fix everything for you."

Rey leaned forward and spoke with an intensity in her voice. "What about Ben? Ben really needed you when he was Kylo. He needed you to guide him. Why didn't you speak to him?"

Anakin's eyes were sad when he turned back to her. "I tried—many times. But Ben worked every day to shut out the light as best he could. Only those who are open to hearing us will hear us. There were a few times I tried to plead with him when I think he felt something through the cracks in his armor. But he only wanted to hear from Darth Vader." Anakin looked disgusted and ashamed. "The Emperor's voice is all he heard."

Heartbroken by the tragedy and pain of Ben's life as Kylo Ren, a lump formed in Rey's throat, and she could not speak.

For long moments Anakin said nothing either. "You're open though, and that's why I'm here."

Rey looked up, his words shaking her out of her sad reverie. "Yes, I need you! Anakin, why doesn't Ben appear to me? I need to see him!" She choked on the words as she began to cry.

"Rey, that's what I've come to tell you. Ben's not here. You're looking in the wrong place."

"He's not with you? What does that mean? He's not dead? I saw him disappear!"

Anakin sighed. "I don't know. There was one time I thought I sensed his presence here, but I could never communicate with him. I am sure now that he's not here."  
"Where is he then?"

"That is a good question. Have you read about the Chain Worlds Theorem in the ancient Jedi texts?" 

A light went on in Rey's mind, "Yes! There was something about a Chain Worlds Theorem, also called World Between Worlds or Vergence scatter. I didn't really pay it much attention though, since it was all theoretical with no proof."

"The Force is very mysterious, and there are other dimensions and hidden places beyond our own, which one may enter seemingly by chance or accident. I know that Exegol, where Ben seemed to have died, is a place where the Sith made many attempts to tap into greater Force powers, since power was always their ultimate goal. They even dug deep crevices looking for a portal into that world. Perhaps he got ended up in the World Between Worlds and is there now."

"Do you think he's on Exegol, then?"

"If the World Between Worlds exists, and he's there, he could be anywhere....or everywhere."

Rey stood up quickly. "Anakin, thank you."

"Listen for the will of the Force, Rey. Let it guide you. Go find Ben." Anakin looked away for moment, then turned an intense gaze on her. "It wasn't because I loved Padmé that things went wrong. It was when I made an idol out of her that I made the wrong choices. If I'd been encouraged to love in a healthy way, I never would have fallen to Palpatine's temptations. Go find your love, and when you do, start a new Jedi order that truly brings balance to the Force." Anakin smiled once more before fading away.

Rey ran back to the _Falcon_ as fast as her legs could carry her. She told the grounds crewman on duty that she needed to fuel up for another trip. She left a message for Finn while the _Falcon_ was being readied, then she headed for Ahch-To. The cave hadn't wanted to give any answers before, but the place was strange, no doubt about that, and dark. There was a reason she had just dreamt about the cave, she was sure of it.

Once on the island, Rey headed down the slope to the cave. She shivered from the darkness emanating from the hole, but took a deep breath and did not hesitate to enter. Once inside, she scrambled out of the water and ran over to the wall that looked like frosted cracked glass, the one that had shown only her own reflection when she had thought it would show her her parents. She put her fingers on the wall and whispered, “Ben!"


	3. Connection

Just as before, something shadowy moved in the distance, and Rey reached out with the Force, hoping to sense Ben as the figure moved closer. And unless the cave itself was deceiving her, she did sense him! The figure stood before her now, and she hardly dared breathe as she watched it put its own hand up to the wall on the other side of her own. The cloudy surface cleared, and instead of seeing only her own face as she had before, there he stood, seemingly as real as anything. He looked for all the world like his father, wearing a cream-colored shirt open at the neck with the sleeves rolled up, a charcoal gray collared vest, brown pants, dark brown boots, and a leather belt with a gray belt buckle just like Han's.  
He was smiling at her. Overcome with emotion, Rey was unable to speak for a long moment and could only look at him. Then came a torrent of words that couldn't be held back: "Ben! Is it you? I mean, are you real, or are you a vision that is coming from this cave? You feel real in the Force, but..." Her eyes searched his face. "Why haven't you visited me like the other spirits?"

"Rey. Beautiful Rey." They were the first words he had spoken to her since the two of them had met on the ruins of the second Death Star. The first words he had spoken to her as Ben. They were flowers in spring, a soothing balm to her soul. "I have wanted to be with you since the moment I left you. But it isn't that simple. I'm not dead, but I'm not alive. I'm caught in what I'm pretty sure is the World Between Worlds, a dimension outside space and time. It was mentioned in the Jedi lore that Luke discovered, but none of us knew what to make of it then."

"It's in the ancient Jedi texts that Luke found here on Ahch-To too!" 

Ben nodded. "If I had died anywhere else, I think I might just have died. But there was some kind of portal on Exegol, and because the other half of our dyad—you—was still living, and you were still living because of my life force which I gave you, that acted like an anchor which kept me from becoming one with the Force, and instead I was pulled into the portal. At least that's what I think happened. I had no idea at first, but I've had a lot of time here to think about it. Time has no meaning here. I can go anywhere in time and space and stay there as long as I like. Without a body, I have no need to eat, drink, or sleep, and no one can see me. I went back in time to watch my mother grow up on Alderaan. I spent weeks there. I went back in time to Naboo and watched my grandparents fall in love."

"Alderaan and Naboo!" Rey interjected. "I had dreams that I was in both of those places and you were calling me! You said you needed me, but I could never see you. I had lots of dreams like that, but I was always in a different place." She paused, then her eyes widened. "Jakku! Were you watching me too?" 

Ben looked a little embarrassed. "Sort of. But never mind that now. I'll explain later. I've been trying to reach you through your dreams, because it's a lot easier. Many of our natural guards are down when we sleep. Rey, I do need your help."

"What is it? Do you think I can help you get out?" 

"I don't know. But that's not it."

Rey's brows lowered in puzzlement. "What else could there be?"

"Here, where I am, I can go to any place in time or space. But because I am no longer part of the physical world, I can't interact with it very easily. If I try really hard, sometimes I can. And the more recent an event, the easier it is. Or rather, the less difficult. It's still hard."

He paused and looked straight into her eyes. His gaze was intense. "Rey, I'm ashamed of what I was; what I did. I see now how I was manipulated by Palpatine and Snoke, but no one forced me to do the things I did. I was influenced, but it was me who made the final choice. I was the one who murdered Lor San Tekka and ordered a whole Jakku village to be slaughtered just for spite. I—not anyone else—put a lightsaber through my father. I hand a hand in destroying five entire planets and over a hundred billion lives!" 

Ben dropped his hand from the wall and turned to the side, like he couldn't even look at her. "I can't live with myself, but the Force is giving me another chance. I want to change some things, undo them. But I can't do it by myself as I am. I need you, because you can interact with the physical world. I want to save the Hosnian system. I want to save Kijimi. And I want to save my father." 

He turned back to her, his eyes begging her to understand, and not to think he was crazy. He held his breath, as if he were afraid Rey might laugh at the absurdity of his words. 

But of course she didn't. Her hand dropped from the wall too, and she paced back and forth a few steps, thinking. "How would I join you?"

"I don't really know. But the portal to the World Between Worlds is on Exegol. Come to the Sith throne room and I think the Force will show us. That's what I'm hoping anyway.” Ben began talking more animatedly. "But before you come, you'll need to prepare, and bring things with you. I've been thinking about this for a long time and I have some plans already." 

Rey slowly stopped pacing, clearly lost in thought. She began to nod her head. "Okay," she murmured, but then turned her head to look him in the face again. 

"But if you change things that happened over a year ago—big things that will have an enormous effect on the galaxy and what happens afterward—will that change what happens to the two of us? What if the end of our story changes, and you don't end up in the World Between Worlds after all?"

Ben's reply was quick. "I've thought about that a lot and even experimented. I went back to the night Luke thought about killing me, when the lightning destroyed the temple and killed some of his students—things he thinks I did, but I now know were Palpatine's doing.

"There were certain things I tried to do there—some of them I could do, and some of them I couldn't do no matter how hard I tried, even though they should not have been any harder to do than those things I was able to do. I realized that I can't change anything that would lead to me not ending up here. The Force won't let me create a paradox."

Rey looked relieved. "Thank goodness. That's one less thing to worry about." She looked directly at him again, staring straight into his eyes. "Ben, you are like a different person. When Leia trained me during this last year, she told me things about you. She told me how she sensed darkness around you even in the womb, and how you would have nightmares as a child. She realized too late what was happening, that Snoke was grooming you from before you were born. She forgave you, Han forgave you, Luke forgave you, and Ben...even the Force forgives you."

Ben looked down, unable once again to maintain his gaze on her. "I know. But I don't deserve it."

Rey tilted her head to one side, trying to look into his downcast face, begging him with this unspoken gesture to look up again. "No, you don't, but forgiveness by definition isn't deserved."

Ben lifted his anguished face. "That's all wonderful, but...it doesn't bring the dead back to life, heal the wounds I made, or put shattered planets back together."

Rey didn't speak for long seconds. She put her hand up against the wall and leaned in as close as she could. She spoke quietly, but with sincerity and intensity. "I'll help you." Ben's mind was immediately transported back to the elevator in the Supremacy over a year ago when he had been taking her to Snoke's throne room. She'd leaned in then and said, "I'll help you." She was the same genuine, hopeful, optimistic Rey she had been then, and he needed someone who believed in him and believed in the impossible.

"Thank you, Rey, my Light. Always guiding me out of the darkness." They started at each others' faces for a long moment, until Ben remembered the plan. "Here is what I need you to do. I know that what I want to accomplish seems wildly unrealistic. But in this dimension, we'll have all the time we need to carry it out, and we can step out right into the exact places we need to go. We can travel across the galaxy instantly! We just need a plan, and I've got one."

Ben then spent a good deal of time communicating all that Rey would need to do and bring along with her, with Rey adding occasional suggestions of her own. When they finished discussing their plans as much as they could, a natural silence ensued as they looked at each others' faces. Ben looked like he was trying to memorize her face, and Rey was reminded of how he had looked at her just before she had kissed him back on Exegol.

"I have missed you so much," he said in a quiet tone. "I can't get enough of you."

"We'll see each other again, I believe that." 

He nodded. "I will meet you on Exegol."

"I will be there as soon as I can." Rey kissed her fingers and placed them on the wall, right where his lips appeared. He did the same. "May the Force be with you," she said.

"May the Force be with you, my Light."


	4. Plans

After landing at the Resistance base, General Poe Dameron climbed out of his X-wing while BB-8 was lowered to the ground. It couldn't really be called the Republic base yet; the First Order was still controlling and harassing as many systems as it could, so the bigwigs on Coruscant were having trouble forming much of a government. The Resistance might have defeated the Final Order fleet and the Sith Eternal, but the First Order still had almost as many ships and weapons as they had before the Battle of Exegol, which was a lot.

A few planets had been liberated by the kind of cobbled-together forces which had saved the day at Exegol, forces made up of all sorts of ships and people. Those people had been too afraid of running afoul of the First Order's might—and its hyperspace tracking capabilities—to fight at Crait and afterwards. Ironically, the much greater threat of the Final Order had been what roused them to fight, because if that fleet had gotten out in the galaxy, there would have been nothing _anyone_ could do to oppose the despotism of the Emperor and his forces after that. But there were still too many First Order forces out there...and the Star Destroyer _Derriphan_ , with its planet-destroying capabilities. 

Poe was exceptionally grateful that Zorii and Babu had gotten off Kijimi when they had. Zorii had told him that after hearing his report about the Final Order, she knew she had to get off the planet and join the Resistance as soon as possible. She and Babu had been able to get out without the First Order medallion, because the hyperlane blockades were outside the colonies, not backwater Kijimi, and the two of them were only heading for a smuggler's outpost. The outpost had been all abuzz with Lando's news and call to arms. From there, she'd followed the directions to Exegol. 

Zorii had some connections which the Resistance hoped would be useful, but Poe had returned to Ajan Kloss because the last lead had gone nowhere. BB-8 was beeping a cheerful hello to Finn, but Poe felt only deep dejection. In the distance, he heard the distinctive whine of the _Millennium Falcon_. Rey was back from wherever it was she'd gone. He pulled out his communicator and signaled the _Falcon_. When Rey answered, he told her to meet him and Finn in the command center. To his surprise, she said she needed to talk to the two of them as well.

After calling out to Finn to follow him, Poe headed to the command center, BB-8 on his heels. It wasn't long before Rey joined them, carrying one of her sacred Jedi texts. After giving her a friendly squeeze on the shoulder, he got down to business. "Rey, Finn—is there any way you can use the Force to help us find the _Derriphan_? The longer that ship is out there, the more nervous I get." He slapped the table next to him. "We defeated hundreds of those cursed ships at Exegol, but this one may be harder to get rid of than all the rest, and as long as it's still out there, the war will not end and the First Order will have the ultimate trump card." He ran his hand through his hair. "Zorii's latest possible lead didn't pan out."

Rey spoke up quickly. "I have something to tell the both of you, which you may or may not believe, but it could change everything—even the threat from the _Derriphan_."

Poe and and Finn unleashed a simultaneous "What!?"

Rey faced Finn. "Finn, the reason I left a second time the other day was because I went to Ahch-To. I had a dream—a dream that was more like a vision—that Ben was there. Of course, he was dead, so I didn't think it meant anything. Then the spirit of Anakin Skywalker appeared to me and told me Ben wasn't dead."

Another simultaneous "What!?" 

Rey held up a hand. "I know, I know. I told you all about Ben's death, and I was just as surprised as you are. It turns out that there's a...a place, a dimension called the World Between Worlds. It's in my Jedi texts, see?" She opened her ancient book and showed them a diagram. "Threepio translated all these books for me, but I didn't pay too much attention to this because no one had any proof of its existence, only myths, and I needed to concentrate on more practical matters at the time."

Finn and Poe bent closer to the book as Rey continued. "The Force is everywhere, so the Jedi theorized, based on old myths and legends, that a person could potentially access a place that was, well, everywhere all at once." She didn't say "everywhere and every time," because she and Ben had agreed to keep this particular feature of the World Between Worlds a total secret, even from Rey's closest friends. The ability to go anywhere was already an incredible power that they would have to keep as secret as possible, but the whole galaxy would go mad trying to access the place if even a hint got out, or one person let anything accidentally slip, which would indicate that possibility existed to change the past.

"One of the places thought to be connected to this World Between Worlds is Exegol." Rey pointed to a circle on the diagram. "The dyad bond Ben and I share, and the fact that his life force was in me, caused him end up in the World Between Worlds instead of dying. He's been trying to reach me through my dreams, but it wasn't until Anakin visited me that I figured out where to go. 

"I was able to communicate with Ben through the dark cave on Ahch-To. I think it's connected to the World Between Worlds somehow, too. Anyway, Ben thinks that through the power of our bond, he can pull me through the portal on Exegol. Once I'm with him in the World Between Worlds, we can help you disable that Star Destroyer. He thinks we can steal the kyber crystal array." What she didn't say was that they were planning to steal the kyber crystal array _before_ the _Derriphan_ destroyed Kijimi.

Poe's eyes lit up. "This could be the answer to all our prayers! And can you destroy all their hyperspace tracking devices, too?"

Rey tapped her lips with her fingers. "We didn't talk about that. But how could we do that? Since Crait they've installed trackers in every possible ship! In fact, even those TIE fighters that followed you when you took the _Falcon_ lightspeed skipping"—she glared at him—"had to have been equipped with hyperspace trackers or they couldn't have followed you."

Finn looked at Rey. "It isn't as bad as you think." He turned back towards Poe. "While you were gone, Lando and Jannah came back with five defectors. They've been telling us all they know. They said that the hyperspace trackers are complicated and delicate, and the sensors require a really rare substance of some kind that's hard to find. And they only figured out how to miniaturize the trackers shortly before the battle of Exegol. All of that means there aren't as many in existence as the First Order would like.

"Just like with the _Supremacy_ , they're only installed in lead ships, and the others in the group receive the data. So only a few special TIE fighters have them—the ones flown by the very best of their special forces. Most TIEs aren't even hyperspace equipped, as you know."

Rey looked at Finn. "If Ben and I are able to connect on Exegol, I'm going to ask him more about this. We may be able to use the Force to melt the trackers into unusable slag. But just as big of a problem is the fact that the First Order has the schematics for the trackers. They can always make more. And they can sell the tech to really wealthy clients to raise money, too. Maybe they already have!"

Finn spoke again. "One of the defectors was an officer who had been on the _Supremacy_. She told us that even though teams had been researching hyperspace tracking as far back as Imperial days, there was only one guy who was brilliant enough to finally design the tracker, and he was the only one who fully understood how it worked. He was abducted as a child, too, and started to have some misgivings when he saw what they were building with Starkiller. He didn't want to keep helping them, but they threatened to bombard his home planet from orbit until it was uninhabitable if he didn't help them, or even if he committed suicide. They told him Kylo could just break into his mind to get the information they wanted anyway, so he might as well help them and save his planet. They kept him around even after the tracker was completed, in case they needed to tweak it or fix it or whatever. They wanted to kill him but couldn't risk losing the only person who understood the tracker.

"After Crait, there was a big disagreement among the leaders, including Kylo Ren, over whether the First Order should keep just one copy of the plans for the tracker or more than that. Half of them wanted to keep just one copy, like the Empire had done with the Death Star, because every extra copy increased the chances that it could be stolen by their enemies, and they said that if something happened to the one copy—the facility burned down or something—the designer could just make more plans, since they'd kept him around. 

"The others wanted at least one or two more copies so that if something happened to their only copy, there'd be no delay in getting another one. They also pointed out that something could happen to the designer himself, and then what would they do? The final agreement was for two copies of the plans to be made and stored."

Poe looked frustrated. "It's good news that there aren't that many copies of the plans around, but in order to completely neutralize the hyperspace tracking threat, we'd need to hack into their systems to get a complete list of all the ships that have a tracker and then destroy all the trackers, plus steal both sets of plans—and you can bet the location of those is a secret that's not stored on any computer. And to top it off we'd have to rescue the engineer as well! How could all this be possible?"

Rey turned to him. "You're forgetting about Ben—the First Order does not know Ben isn't dead, so they'll never guess he can feed us information. That means they won't have done anything like move the plans or the designer. He could tell us all sorts of information on their locations, defenses, etc. I'll bet he knows exactly where both sets of plans and the designer are. And he probably knows where the list of ships with hyperspace trackers is, too."

Poe snapped his fingers. "Of course! You're right!"

Ben had already told her to enlist the help of the Resistance's best hackers, because they would need a way to get into Starkiller Base's guidance and firing systems. But now this plan gave her the perfect reason to ask without having to make anything up. 

Rey looked at Poe and Finn in turn. "I need to speak with the best hackers the Resistance knows of. I also have a list of other things I need before I head to Exegol and try to enter the World Between Worlds." 

Finn clapped her on the back. "Let's do it!"

Poe was already taking a step towards the door. "I'm going to run out right now and speak with some people about getting the best hacker we can possibly find."

"Wait!" Rey called out. "Don't let anyone know about the World Between Worlds. We have to keep it as secret as possible. If all of this works, and I can rescue Ben and bring him out, eventually we'll have to come up with some kind of story of how he survived. But this has to remain with us, because the information cannot get leaked out into the galaxy. You can imagine what a furor it would cause." 

Poe nodded. "I agree completely. I'll just say that based on new information we've obtained, you've come up with a plan that will help us combat hyperspace tracking and find the _Derriphan_ by infiltrating a First Order facility and stealing their data, and that you need a top-notch hacker to be able to carry it out."

Rey smiled at her friend, who had most definitely become wiser since his terrible choices between the destruction of Starkiller Base and the Battle of Crait. "Thanks, Poe." 

"You bet." He was out the door in a flash.

"Finn." Rey smiled her other friend and Padawan. "Walk with me." They headed out of the compound and into the forest. "How have you been doing while I was gone?"

"Rey, it's incredible. I feel like I'm really starting to get in sync with the Force. My ability to first listen to it, and then use it to accomplish my goal, is getting better all the time. I've been practicing with my saber, the remote, and the blindfold." He smiled and patted his hip, where the lightsaber he'd recently constructed with her help hung from his belt. "It's hard work, but kinda fun, too."

Rey smiled again, wider this time. "I knew you would do well, Finn. Keep working and you'll keep growing stronger." She looked out at the forest. "I don't know what will happen when I go to meet Ben. But I feel the Force telling me that you need to go with Lando and Jannah. As a former stormtrooper, your input will be valuable as they try to reach the First Order soldiers who were kidnapped as children. And your abilities in the Force could be an asset to them, too. Don't be surprised if I pop out of nowhere at some point because Ben and I need your help."

Rey looked directly at Finn. "Finn, you're the first friend I ever had. We've been through a lot together. Do you trust me?"

Finn pursed his lips. "Despite everything you told us about how Kylo Ren turned back to the light side and helped you on Exegol, it's pretty hard for someone like me to believe he really changed, and to put our fate in his hands right now. But I trust you, Rey. You were one of my first friends as well. So if you tell me to go with Lando and Jannah, I'll go and give the mission one hundred percent."

Rey hugged Finn. "I want to save as many kidnapped First Order soldiers as we can. I want justice for all of you and your families. I want to put an end to the First Order. And I know Ben wants the same. We'll do everything possible to make it happen."

Finn squeezed Rey's arm affectionately. "May the Force be with you, my friend."

Rey grinned. "You too, my friend.”


	5. Preparations

As Rey walked back into the compound, she spotted Poe looking for her. Once he saw her, he sprinted to her side. "Just talked to Connix. Our best hackers have been helping Lando, since his mission depends on being able to access First Order communication networks and get their messages inside. Do you want me to send a message to him?”

"Yes, let him know I'm coming and what I need. But tell him to stay where he is. I'll take the _Falcon_ and meet him. I need to take Finn with me. I asked him to join their team for awhile."

"All right, whatever you say, boss." Poe was grinning, and it was easy to see that Rey's news and the prospect of striking a fatal blow to the First Order was causing his dauntless spirit to resurface.

"Okay, now I need to pick up the other items on my list. Do we have any First Order uniforms with Tech Repair insignia? Do we have any precious metal currencies like aurei, peggats, or zemids that will be accepted no matter where we end up?"

Poe gestured with his arm towards the main building. "Let's go see!"

On their way, Poe leaned closer and spoke in a low tone. "Hey Rey, maybe it's none of my business, but did you ever find out what Finn wanted to tell you when we thought we were going to die in the sinking sands on Pasaana? I asked him about it later, before the battle of Exegol, but he didn't want to tell me."

"Yes, I can tell you, because you actually already know now. He wanted to tell me he thought he was Force-sensitive. He decided not to mention it to me again that day because he felt that the middle of an incredibly stressful situation with us racing to stop Emperor Palpatine and his galaxy-crushing fleet was not the time to distract me with it. He probably didn't want to tell you because he wasn't sure, and he'd be embarrassed if it turned out he was just imagining it."

"Thanks. I'm glad he is. I think he'll really do a lot of good, especially for all the former soldiers whose lives the First Order wrecked."

"I think so, too."

Hours later, Rey was outfitted in a set of nondescript clothing and in possession of a First Order lieutenant's outfit that had been altered to fit her, complete with a Tech Repair insignia removed from another defector's uniform. That defector, Harris, was coming with her, too, to help plan their strategy for infiltrating First Order ships and accessing their control systems. She had been supplied with a compact sack (a large bag that could be folded down into a very small packet due to its thin but nearly impenetrable fabric), as many peggats and aurei as the Resistance could spare, a few food rations, a glow stick, an adhesive facial disguise which would change her features and prevent her from being recognized, her communicator, a small concealable blaster and holster, and her lightsaber—which had two halves that could be put together to form a staff saber. Most of this was tucked into a First Order Tech Repair shoulder tote bag. She, Finn, and Harris bade farewell to Poe and their other Resistance friends, then boarded the _Falcon_ and took off for the Rattatak system to meet with Lando.

~~~~~

The _Millennium Falcon_ settled into one of the landing bays on the outskirts of the capital of the planet Rattatak. Jannah had been scheduled to meet them, and she was waiting just outside the bay. After giving both Rey and Finn quick hugs and shaking hands with Harris, she ushered them into a transport vehicle and led them further into the city to one of the area's nicest hotels. 

"We're renting one of this hotel's large gathering spaces and a bunch of rooms," Jannah explained to the three of them. "Due to Rattatak's proximity to the Unknown Regions, there were many First Order raids on this planet and others nearby where they stole children. None of the three of you may realize this, because you didn't grow up in normal society, but it's typical for a child's DNA sample to be taken at birth, and a record of their genome stored at the local medical facility. Optionally, parents can choose to have that record stored with their local government, or offworld, either in records storage facilities or with the galactic government. These DNA records can be useful in diagnosing diseases and preparing medical treatments. They can also used by law enforcement when a child needs to be identified. We've taken a DNA sample from every defector who has come to us, and we're comparing them to DNA records given to us by parents who claim that their children were kidnapped.

"We're receiving tens of thousands of DNA records from hopeful parents, but not all parents have DNA records available. Some parents, for reasons of privacy and individual freedom, choose not to have their child's DNA samples taken in the first place. Some are refugees and do not even live on the same planet where their children were born, and they can't get ahold of the records. Other times, the medical facilities, government facilities, or records facilities were damaged as a result of fires, natural disasters, wars, and so on. In those cases, we're asking for the parents' DNA records. They can be sent to us, of course, but we're also going to worlds where known raids occurred and taking samples in person. Plus, if there's a match in records sent to us, we have to confirm that the DNA records really belong to them or their children by taking samples in person and confirming they're the parents."

Jannah parked the transport in the hotel's lot, then she, Finn, Rey, and Harris entered the hotel. "A couple times now, we've been able to reunite defectors with family members. It's so wonderful every time it happens. I'll never forget when Lando and I found out I was his daughter. It seemed too coincidental that the Final Order brought us right to each other, but the DNA doesn't lie."

Rey smiled at Jannah as they entered the meeting hall. "In my experience there's no such thing as luck. The Force brought you together, I'm sure of it."

The group halted just inside the hall. The place was packed with people. "All these poor people," she murmured. "All of them have lost children." Through the Force, Rey felt Finn's anger rise. She put her hand on his arm. "Your anger at what the First Order has done is understandable; it's righteous anger at injustice. Just remember to be careful of your choices and work hard at channeling your emotions into constructive solutions." 

Finn looked at her, and it was as moment before his expression softened. "You're right, Rey. I feel hatred and I want revenge, but I need to seek justice and try to reunite as many First Order soldiers with their families as I can."

Rey squeezed his arm. "Forgiveness is hard, and it doesn't mean that what someone has done to wrong you or others is okay. It means you won't let bitterness take root and control you."

Finn nodded, and Jannah gestured to the group. "Come this way. My father is on the far side."

The group walked along the edges of the room until they reached the other side of the queue. Lando caught sight of them and immediately got up and approached them. His greeting was warm as he caught Rey and Finn up in a three-person hug. "Rey! Finn! How are you doin’?"

"Just fine, General," Finn replied. "I've been training as Rey's Padawan, but she's going off on a mission and I'm here to offer my services to your team."

Lando grinned at him. "Welcome, welcome! We can use all the help we can get." He turned to Rey. "And you, young lady! I hear you need help from some of my team members. Come, let me get all of you some refreshments, and then I'll introduce you to them."

Rey couldn't help catching some of a Lando's infectious happiness. Lando had lost so much at the hands of the First Order—his infant daughter; his friends Han, Luke, and Leia; and some of his brothers in arms, like his old Rebel pilot pal, Nien Nunb, who had perished above Exegol. But now he had played a crucial part in winning the biggest battle of the war, Palpatine was dead once and for all, and Lando had been reunited with his beloved daughter.

The Rebel General wasn't the only familiar figure in the back of the room. C-3PO and R2-D2 were also there, and as Lando led Rey's group towards the exit that would take them to the dining room, the duo approached them and greeted Rey and Finn.

"Mistress Rey! Master Finn!" C-3PO hailed them with cheerful gentility, while R2-D2 bleeped and blooped happily. "How good to see you again! It has been a most rewarding experience helping General Calrissian and his team. I have been able to provide translation services for a great many people, and Artoo has been helping the data technicians."

Rey smiled. "It sounds like the two of you are perfectly suited to help out here." Threepio was truly in his element. 

"Indeed we are, Mistress Rey! Why, just the other day, a most remarkable circumstance occurred when I had to translate for some colonists from—"

Lando broke in. "Sorry to interrupt, Threepio, but perhaps you can tell them later. I need to get this hungry crew to the dining room."

"Of course, General. Since we do not require sustenance, we will stay with the team members here until you return."

"Thanks, Threepio."

After eating some delicious local cuisine, Lando led Rey and Harris into one of the back rooms. "Here are some of my favorite people, Cordray Gallatin"—he gestured to a young and very handsome man with hair so blonde it was nearly white—"and Yuna Jo." Next to the young man sat a middle-aged woman with a light complexion, almond eyes, and black hair piled messily on the top of her head. "These two codebreakers and their team have gotten us into some pretty important First Order systems. We're seeing more and more defectors all the time thanks to them. Let them know what you need. We have some more codebreakers in our ship in orbit if you need a some more input. Let me know if you need me."

"Thanks, General," Rey replied, and Lando headed back into the main room to help with the processing of all the people waiting to present DNA records or have samples taken.

Rey and Harris introduced themselves to Cordray and Yuna and then got down to business. "I'm headed out on an important mission," Rey explained. "I need to be able to get into high-security areas of First Order ships and facilities, like the rooms where they keep their hyperspace trackers and weapons guidance systems, and I need to be able to hack into their computers in order to re-program some things and access some vital information."

"So just a small request then," Cordray deadpanned.

Rey chuckled but quickly sobered. "This war won't be fully over until the hyperspace tracking threat is neutralized, and that threat gets bigger every day. It also won't be over as long as the Star Destroyer _Derriphan_ is out there, just waiting to be used by the First Order at an opportune time. I have plans for getting in and out of their ships and facilities, but I have no way of getting through locked doors or into their computer systems."

Yuna spoke up. "Wouldn't it be easier just to blast the systems rather than re-program them? Or, if you don't want all the noise, just use the Force to crush or melt down some critical parts?"

Rey couldn't tell them that she needed to be able to redirect weapons systems on both Starkiller Base and the _Derriphan_ in order to blow up uninhabited planets or moons instead of the Hosnian system or Kijimi. If the power of these weapons was not demonstrated to the galaxy, they would not understand the threat. They would not know what they had to destroy. Furthermore, Ben told her he had considered just finding a way to alert the Resistance to Starkiller's existance and location, leading them to destroy it before it ever fired a shot. However, history couldn't happen that way, as Han and Rey had to be on Starkiller and involved in its final destruction for everything regarding Ben and Rey to proceed more or less the same way.

"It's all part of the plan," Rey said cryptically. "I need to be able to use these weapons systems against other First Order assets. I don't have time to tell you more." It was the best she could do on the spur of the moment.

Yuna nodded. "Okay then. Let's talk about how this can be accomplished. Harris, tell us about First Order security."

Harris spent a good deal of time detailing all he knew about the First Order's security setup. "An ID chip loaded with a First Order profile—one with permissions far exceeding what your displayed rank would normally have—will be enough to get you clearance," Harris added. He put his hand in his pocket and handed Cordray a First Order communicator and an ID chip. "These were mine. They've been wiped of all my information, so we can put someone else's on. We can't use a stolen profile from a First Order higher-up, because your biometrics wouldn't match theirs. That means you'll have to hack into a database and add your ID to the First Order roster, or your ID chip won't get you anywhere."

Cordray took the communicator and chip. "We've developed a code that when deployed will exploit certain vulnerabilities we've discovered—based off information from First Order prisoners, many of whom have been fairly easy to get information out of. We're pretty certain it will get you access to First Order systems. We'll give you the code on the communicator, which will allow you to do a wireless break-in, and a chip with the code, too, if you need to do a physical break-in. If it works, you'll be able to go in and do what you like."

Harris raised an eyebrow. "Pretty certain? Not really certain?"  
"We did test them on some smaller ships, but we can't be absol  
utely certain the bigger ships and installations don't have extra layers of security. We haven't used this for real yet. It'll give Rey the best chance of doing a deep dive into First Order systems, but any hacking expedition like this is going to involve a certain amount of risk."

Rey spoke up carefully. "These vulnerabilities...their computer systems. Are they something we have to take advantage of at this precise moment because they're constantly changing, or has their setup been this way for awhile?"

Yuna replied to Rey's questions. "It seems they've had the same systems for years. They may have had other vulnerabilities in the past that they patched up, but this one's probably been around for years, it's just that no one realized it until now."

Inwardly, Rey sighed with relief. "And one more thing," Yuna continued. We've developed some viruses that we think will scramble their ability to access their systems. If you reprogram something, they'll just go back in and return it to the way it was if you don't prevent them. We've been testing the viruses on the captured ships too. We'll give you one."

Rey spent the next few hours going through details and practicing scenarios with Harris, Cordray, and Yuna. Harris taught her how to create fake tech repair orders that would dupe First Order officers into thinking she had a right to be in sensitive areas. She also asked for and received a data storage chip that would be compatible with First Order systems, which would allow her to download information that she couldn't stream remotely.

As their planning session came to a conclusion, Cordray told Rey where to go to get her biometrics recorded. They would load her DNA, fingerprints, and iris scans onto her ID. She would also get a passcode assigned to her.

"Thank you." Rey stood and shook everyone's hand. "You all have been a huge help, more than you know."

Rey walked down the hall to the biometrics room. Here Resistance members primarily took DNA samples, but they were also recording and comparing other bioidentifiers in the case that original DNA samples did not exist. After quickly having her biometrics recorded, Rey headed back out into the large room, where she spotted a familiar figure. "Rose!" She called out. Rose turned and smiled at Rey, and after closing the distance between each other, the two hugged. "How are you liking your new job here on Lando's team inspecting captured First Order ships?"

"I'm loving it!" Rose enthused. "I'm getting a lot of insight into the First Order's ships and how their fleet works. We've gotten so much valuable information that I know we're going to use to bring an even swifter end to this war. No hyperspace tracker yet, though." Rose suddenly paused and tilted her head like she'd just remembered something. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to drop Finn off, because he's going to work with your team for a little while while I go on a mission. I was meeting with Yuna and Cordray to get some codebreaking help, since it looks like I'm going to have to do some of it on the mission."

"Finn's here?" Rey couldn't help but notice Rose's eyes light up a little at the mention of Finn's name, though she tried to appear casual. "I thought he would be training with you for awhile."

"I thought so too, but something urgent came up. I told him he had to practice while I'm gone, no matter how busy he gets on this team." Rey grinned at Rose. "He should be around here somewhere."

Rose began to look around, and Rey knew that Rose's attention was now elsewhere. She sat down and waited very impatiently for what seemed like an eternity until Yuna emerged with the communicator and ID chips, as well as a connector cord and charger. After an extensive conversation on how to use them, Rey thanked her and stowed them in her bag. She walked hurriedly over to Jannah and asked for a ride back to the landing bays.

The journey back to the _Falcon_ seemed interminable. She knew that Ben was somewhere outside of time right now, so it didn't matter how soon she got to Exegol. Still, she felt excitement, hope, longing, curiosity, and even more feelings she couldn't identify, and her insides danced as she rode the transport through the city, told Jannah goodbye, and boarded the _Falcon_. She set Exegol as her destination, flew away from the planet, and engaged the hyperdrive the very first second it was possible to do so without harming the old bucket of bolts.


	6. Reunited

Rey shuddered as the _Falcon_ approached Exegol's surface. The aura of the dark side was strong, and it made her feel cold both in her body and in her heart. Last time she had been here, she had felt this revolting spirit of evil, but she'd been full of adrenaline, so preoccupied with the coming confrontation with Palpatine (she did not think of him as her grandfather) and stopping his plot to take over the galaxy that it had faded into the background. 

Now, though, she was almost overcome with the sinister energy that pervaded the place. She thought of Ben, of their bond, of seeing him again and rescuing him, and the despair subsided. She thought with pride and happiness about his triumph over the dark side and how he had thrown away his Kylo persona and come to rescue her. Every thought, every memory of the light beat back the darkness even more. She needed that as she landed her ship outside the giant trapezoidal Sith temple and was flooded with awful memories of the last time she had been inside it.

Entering the structure, she made her way to the throne room. She walked over to the place where Ben had died, but there was nothing unusual about this spot in the room. She looked around and saw nothing to indicate where the portal might be, or where Ben might show himself. Frustrated, she dashed around, finding nothing and seeing nothing, before realizing that she was letting panic take over and wasn't relying on the Force to guide her. She stopped, closed her eyes, and tuned in. Even through all the pollution of darkness, she could still sense the unsullied Force. She calmed her mind and reached out. She thought of her bond with Ben. She thought of him and tried to sense him. She tried to discern whether there was a place that felt different in her surroundings. 

She felt something; it was faint, but it was undoubtedly different from what was all around her. She turned her head to the side and looked at the rock wall in that direction. It wasn't so different from the cave wall on Ahch-To. She walked over to it, and her sense of something much different grew. Then...Ben! Yes, it was! Just the faintest feeling, but... She reached the wall and put her hand up to it. The surface of the wall was changing, moving! It looked more and more like the cave wall, and then...a shadow in the distance. The shadow came closer. It was Ben, she knew. He put his hand up; so did he. The wall cleared. He was smiling.

"You made it," he said simply.

Yes," she breathed. "What do we do now?"

“Let's try to open our bond, and if that works, you walk through it to me. We'll pass you through the way you passed the lightsaber to me."

"Can we open our bond at will? Our meetings in the Force have never been our own doing before."

"We never worked together to make it happen before."

"True." Rey took a deep breath. "Here we go." 

Ben closed his eyes and Rey did the same. Somehow that always seemed to help her see what she was truly supposed to see. She tapped into the Force and reached out to Ben. 

It was like a light turning on. She felt the unmistakable connection and opened her eyes. She and Ben were no longer touching opposite sides of a wall; their hands were held outward with nothing but space in between. 

Ben turned his hand palm up and held it outward. "Rey." His voice was tender. "Will you join me? Please." 

Rey remembered the last time he had said that like it was yesterday. That time, his hand had been covered by a black glove, so symbolic of the way his heart had been covered by the darkness that was Kylo Ren. But now he was Ben, fully Ben, not the little glimpse she had seen in the hut on Ahch-To when they'd touched hands. He'd given up the shroud of darkness, and she could take his hand now. There was nothing she wanted to do more. 

Tears running down her cheeks, she laid her hand in his, and as he enveloped her hand in his grip, he pulled her to himself. She rushed forward into his embrace, and he dropped her hand to put his arms around her as she put hers around his neck. His right hand moved to the back of her neck, and they looked at each other for a few intense seconds before coming together in a glorious kiss. It was as beautiful as their first, but so much sweeter because there would be no goodbye after this one.

At length they pulled away from each other, and the bond came to an end. But they remained together, and Rey's surroundings dissolved into a star field lined with circles and lines stretching out as far as the eye could see. She looked in all directions, then back at Ben. "This is the World Between Worlds? It worked? I'm here...with you?"

Ben smiled again. "Yes. It worked. We're together." At that, he literally swept her off her feet, joyously twirling her in a circle. When he put her down, he kissed her again.

After pulling back, Ben spoke first. "Rey, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I'm sorry for everything I did to you from the moment we first met on Takodana. I terrified you, I abducted you, I mocked you for your thoughts of loneliness, I fought you, I threw you against a tree. After defeating Snoke's guards, I let your friends in the Resistance fleet continue to get annihilated while I begged you to join me. When you refused me, I couldn't decide whether I wanted you back or hated you, and in my blind rage I would have killed my own mother on Crait if Luke hadn't interfered. The truth is, you were right to say no, and I couldn't face the truth. My father's death, Luke's death, and the destruction of the Hosnian system continued to haunt me, and after finding out you were Palpatine's granddaughter, I decided I wanted to push you to become the kind of Rey—a dark Rey—who would accept me, which would justify all I had done and allow me to banish the demons. I wanted peace in my heart, but I turned to conflict to achieve it."

Ben closed his eyes in shame and shook his head at his former way of thinking. When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was tortured. "So I fought you some more. I ran you down in a TIE fighter. I pushed you to destroy the transport with anger. I crushed the Wayfinder you were so desperate to get. I tried to make you angry and vengeful every way I could, hoping you'd see how powerful you could be if you embraced the dark, especially with the added power of our bond. I still stubbornly had the same plan I had back on the _Supremacy_ —kill the master and rule the galaxy together. 

"But that Rey would not have been the real Rey, and I think now that if I had been successful, I would have immediately regretted it, finally realizing too late that I'd ruined the treasure I had in front of me all along. Fortunately, you took the next logical step in reaction to my horrible behavior and stabbed me through the middle. You probably thought I really was trying to kill you, and you were sick of me. I tried to push you over the edge, and I got what I deserved, but it turned out to be my salvation, because that was the moment Kylo Ren really died. I was facing death, and it suddenly hit me that I'd thrown my life away. I hadn't accomplished anything worthwhile; in fact, quite the opposite. I'd thrown you away, thrown away my chance to be with you, and my mom..."

Ben choked up at that moment, unable to continue as a tear fell down his cheek. After taking a minute to compose himself, he continued. "I threw my mom's life away, because my dark choices led to her decision to use up her life's energy to try to reach me one more time. She loved me more than her own life, even though I broke her heart. I realized I'd thrown Luke's life away, and my father's. After you left Kef Bir in my TIE, I saw my father in a vivid memory. It was like when he came to me on the bridge of Starkiller Base, but this time I saw everything as it truly was—his heart, his love for me, his sacrifice. All those things gave me the strength to do what I should have done so long ago. I was also saved by your choice to heal me, and your admission that you did want to take my hand, but Ben's hand. I despised Kylo Ren, and I was so disgusted with myself that I couldn't wait to get rid of my murder weapon, so I hurled it into the sea."

"So that's why you didn't have your saber on Exegol and needed to get one from me! I've been wondering what happened."

Ben let out a little huff. "Typical me, still not thinking things through. I wasn't thinking that I might end up really needing it."

"It was fitting, though, that you wielded your family's saber on Exegol." She reached up and put her hand on his cheek. "It's never too late to do the right thing."

"But now I have to live with it...or not live, as the case may be."

"Not live..." Rey murmured. Suddenly her eyes opened wide. "Ben! You said you didn't have a body! How am I touching you?"

"The rules of physics are rather...fluid here. I can manifest my appearance any way I want. How do you think I got these clothes?" One side of his mouth quirked up in a smile as she fingered the edge of his vest. "I guess that applies to whether or not I'm solid, too. Hang on, I'm going to try something."

Ben took one of his hands and moved it right through Rey's arm. She gasped and looked up at him. "That was weird." She shook her head quickly, then looked him up and down. "So this is what you'd wear if you could wear anything." 

"It reminds me of my father. I haven't really, truly chosen my clothes since I was a little boy. All I wanted to be back then was a pilot like my father. I liked to wear the same kind of clothes as him, with a toy blaster and a holster and everything. Of course, whenever I was out in public, all my mother's assistants took care of my appearance and clothes." He sighed. "Then I was sent off to Jedi school and had to wear their robes all the time. I resented my parents for sending me. I felt like my dad was saying he didn't want me hanging around him anymore; didn't want me to be like him. I wanted to be out flying spaceships."

Rey interrupted. "Didn't you know you were strong in the Force? Didn't you want to have a lightsaber and move objects with the Force, and things like that?"

"A little. I figured my mom and uncle Luke would teach me some things, but I didn't want to be a Jedi, because the Jedi had to devote their lives to the order. Lightsaber fighting and moving stuff with my mind sounded fun, but the rest of it didn't.

"Then when I became part of the Knights of Ren, they dressed me—in black. I thought it was cool then, but eventually even when I became top dog, I continued wearing black because that's just what you do when you're on the dark side. I didn't even change it up, but wore only one outfit. I wanted to be like Darth Vader and look intimidating. Well, you know that, because of that stupid mask I wore everywhere. I was just a childish punk who was playing dress-up because he wanted to be like his Sith Lord grandfather. You really hit a nerve when you told me I was afraid I'd never be as strong as Darth Vader." 

Rey smiled a small smile. "Let me tell you, when you took your mask off, it was not what I expected. You went from looking intimidating and terrifying to not looking terrifying at all." She paused for a split second, then spoke again. "It didn't change the fact that I hated you and what you were doing, but you were gorgeous." She bit her lip, looked away, and blushed.  
  
He smiled a mischievous smile. "Really?" He felt for her feelings in the Force. "Hm...Yes, really. No wonder you were so embarrassed when I appeared to you without my shirt. I purposely didn't put it on when I saw how much it flustered you."

Rey shot him a look and whacked him on the arm as she huffed. "You...!"

Ben laughed. It was the first time she'd ever heard him laugh, and it was glorious. Rey broke into a smile and then laughed with him. They fell into an embrace and continued to laugh just for the joy of laughing.

After calming down, they didn't break their embrace, but stood together in silent mutual agreement just basking in their happiness. Eventually, Ben spoke. "I would be happy to stay here forever, but we need to get to work. I want to see if it's even possible to bring you back and forth between the physical world and here. If we chose to go through a portal into the past first and you ended up stuck there because we couldn't get you back through the portal, you'd be in real trouble. So I want to try something in the present day. Rey, I want my family's sabers back."

Rey nodded. "Ok. For me it was like having a funeral or memorial service. But it's only natural you would want them back. Their your family's heirlooms."

"Besides, what happens when they are eventually uncovered or found? Do want some Jawa to have a working lightsaber?"

They don't work. I took the kyber crystals out of their sabers first. Having come from a desert planet myself, I knew that between sandstorms and scavengers, they'd eventually be found no matter how deeply I buried them, and it wouldn't be good for them to be in working order then. Plus, kyber crystals are almost non-existent in the galaxy now. The Empire plundered all known sources to make their Death Stars, and what kyber the First Order excavated from Ilum while making Starkiller Base was used by the Emperor to create his Final Order fleet. Now the remains of all of it are gone. Being real short on a necessary lightsaber component just when Finn and I needed sabers, I took the crystals out and used them in ours. I also found Luke's saber on Ahch-To and took the crystal out of that one too, since I needed two for the two halves of mine."

Ben stroked Rey's hair. "I should have known you'd be smarter than that." He kissed her in the top of her head. "They need to stay in the family, though." He chuckled. "When I saw you bury them, I wanted to shout at you, 'No, I want those back!' It's why I appeared in your dream at the next available opportunity."

"Ha! Never underestimate the power of family heirlooms." She grinned. "Let's go!"


	7. Lightsabers

Ben gestured to the portals. "We need to find the right portal, but it shouldn't be too hard, because the Force puts the important ones close to you." He reached for Rey's hand and their fingers intertwined. Holding hands, they walked along the row, calling out to the Force to show them the way. 

It wasn't long before Ben stopped. "Here it is." 

She could just make out Luke's homestead through the shifting surface of the portal. "How do you know it's the present day and not thirty years ago?"

"Practice. I've found that the Force shows me portals pretty easily if they're relevant to my life and I need them."

"How do I get back out once we have the sabers?"

"I think that we'll need to initiate our bond and keep it open as long as we're in any world. That way you can come back through the portal to me like you did the first time on Exegol. I don't have a body, so in the physical world I'm invisible and don't make any noise. I'm hoping you can hear me talk to you in my thoughts, or at least get the general impression, through the bond."

"All right, here goes." She closed her eyes as she began to initiate their bond, and Ben followed suit. Once the bond was open, she stepped through the portal and stood on Tatooine at the Lars homestead, right where she had been just days ago. The place was deserted. She looked around, and was startled to see Ben. He was somewhat transparent, but not bluish and glowing like a Force ghost.

"Ben! I can see you! I thought you said you'd be invisible! Wait, I know. I'm seeing you through the bond!" 

_"Excellent. This will probably turn out to be very helpful."_ Ben's mouth moved, but no audible sound came out, only thoughts echoing in her head.

"I can hear you in my mind loud and clear!" Her excitement shone on her face. "All right, down to business." She looked around carefully and determined the location of the buried lightsaber hilts the best she could. "Right around here."

Rey started moving sand with the Force, but it was a lot more work to get all that sand out, and then keep it out, than it had been to simply sink the sabers down in it. And she wasn't seeing any sign of them, either.

Rey felt Ben using the Force and noticed her hole getting bigger. "I thought you said it was hard for you to interact with the material world," she said.

_"It's harder than it would be if I were fully alive, yes, but the fewer other events I disturb or change with my interference, the easier it is. This is the present day, and digging up these sabers affects no one right now, so it's not too hard."_

The two of them continued to work in companionable silence for awhile, but it was taking a lot longer to find the sabers than they had anticipated. "Ben," Rey began. "Why aren't we using the power of our bond to find the sabers? Why don't we just call them to us?"

Rey heard his voice in her mind again. _"You're right. The dyad is supposed to be really powerful, and we're going to need to learn how to put our power together if we're going to accomplish everything I have planned."_

"All right, let's both concentrate on finding the sabers and calling them to us." Rey closed her eyes and reached out to Ben. Ben did the same, and all of a sudden she felt extremely powerful! They directed their thoughts towards the sabers, and now they could feel exactly where they were buried, not far from where they had been digging. They both began to reach out in the Force to call the package to themselves. The sabers came directly to them, and it was so easy, despite the heavy layers of sand on top of them. The ease with which the task was accomplished was like the difference between trying to pick up a very heavy object by oneself and picking it up with the aid of someone very strong. 

The sabers appeared on the surface of the sand and Rey picked them up. "That was incredible!!" 

Ben smiled a sad little smile. _"If only I'd turned away from the Dark Side sooner, we might have had a chance to discover what we could do, and we might have been able to finish off Palpatine together earlier."_

"Ben, don't go down this path of regret. It's going to kill your spirit. No matter what we're able to change and fix from the World Between Worlds, there are some things you can't change or undo. If you didn't attack the Jakku village, Poe and BB-8 wouldn't have gotten separated, I would not have met BB-8, and I would still be scavenging on Jakku. If you hadn't ordered the stormtroopers to fire on the villagers, Finn wouldn't have refused, and he'd either still be with the First Order, or dead, or he would have defected at some other time, and Poe wouldn't have been able to escape from you because Finn wouldn't have been there to help him get away. I'm not saying that makes the murders ok, but I am pointing out that you simply will not be able to make amends for everything. You'll have to find a way to forgive yourself and live life going forward."

Ben looked away. _"Live? How can I live one way or the other? What will my fate even be?"_

"We will figure it out. We will. You can do so much...you and I together can do so much. It's not the will of the Force that you stay in limbo forever, I am sure of it. Now let's go back and start our next mission. We have a lot to do." 

Rey reached for Ben's hand, but her hand just went right through him. She chuckled at herself. "It's going to take me awhile to get used to that." 

Ben made a "follow me" gesture, and they went back to the portal. It was a bit hard for Rey to see, distinguished only by the appearance of shimmering air in the circle. They stepped through, and they were back. Rey let the bond drop. It could be very energizing, at least at first, but she sensed that after awhile, fatigue would set in if they tried to keep it open for a long time. 

Rey placed the packet of sabers in her shoulder bag. She turned to Ben. "We did it!" She hugged him and he smiled at her enthusiasm. "I know it wasn't a very hard task, but it showed us some important things: that you can talk to me through the bond, that I can see you, and that I can get back to the World Between Worlds just fine with your help."

Still smiling, Ben's gaze lingered on her face. Rey was so beautiful, he thought, but her beauty was not just outward—her heart was beautiful, her spirit was beautiful, her enthusiasm was beautiful, her perseverance was beautiful. "I love you, Rey."

Rey's face became even more radiant. "I love you, too, Ben Solo." Rey put her hands on his arms, stood on her tiptoes, and placed a kiss on his lips, which he savored. When it ended, he gave her a quick squeeze, then took her hand and began walking along the line of portals. 

"The next place we need to go is years back in time to the night Luke's Jedi temple burned down and I left. I already tried to change some things there. I tried to use the Force to move a pen on paper and leave Luke a note. I couldn't move the pen even the tiniest bit. If I had succeeded, so many things would've changed as a result that I would not have ended up in the World Between Worlds and there would be a paradox. But I did go back into the Jedi temple and remove an artifact before the temple was destroyed. I put it in a cave that I had found about five kilometers away from the school grounds that has a very hidden entrance. It was my own secret place that I sometimes went to during free hours when I was older. I don't think anyone else knows about it. I visited the cave in the present day, and the artifact was still there. I think we can rescue the contents of the temple before it is destroyed."

"That would be wonderful! I sure could use all of those Jedi artifacts and information storage devices."

Ben looked off into the distance, but did not appear to be concentrating on anything in particular. After a few moments he said, "I tried to talk to the spirit of Luke. I wanted so badly for him to know it wasn't me. I did plenty of horrible things, but that wasn't one of them. I thought, if I can interact with the physical world, maybe I can interact with the spirit world. I went to Ahch-To, where Luke had been. When I concentrated, I could sense and hear the spirits, but only from a distance. I focused more and more on that world and called to Luke. The voices seemed to be getting stronger, so I reached out into that realm, and for a moment, I felt like I was truly becoming one with the Force and entering that place. But I realized that if I did not pull myself out right then, I would finish dying and pass into that realm permanently. I came so close." 

Ben closed his eyes for a moment. "It was peaceful. Somehow I just knew it would have been like hearing the most sublime music, or stepping into a relaxing bath; like smelling my favorite scent all around me, or seeing a welcoming light...but all at once. Yet two things held me back: the plans I wanted to accomplish to save many of the people and places I'd destroyed..." he paused, looking right in her eyes, "and you."

She smiled a little smile at him and took his other hand. "One day Luke will know, one way or another." All of a sudden, she took in a quick breath. "That must have been what Anakin was talking about!"

"Anakin? Skywalker?"

"Yes! He appeared to me on Ajan Kloss right before I went to Ahch-To looking for you! He said that one time, he thought he sensed you in the spirit world, but then you went away. He came to tell me you weren't dead, and asked me to look for you and try to bring you back. He also said he had tried to reach you many times in the past, but you had closed yourself off to hearing from the light."

"He's right. Palpatine was quite the deceiver. He made me think my grandfather never turned, and that I was hearing Darth Vader's voice." Rey could hear his voice starting to shake with anger. "And I was inspired to do many evil things because of it."

Rey squeezed his hands and looked at him intently. "Ben. Lay aside your anger. You have a right to be angry, but it won't help you now. Channel it into your desire to get justice and to heal things."

Ben took a deep breath and held it before letting it out. "I will. Keep me in line, won't you, my Light?"

Rey smiled. "I will." She nodded her head sideways towards the portals. "Come on, let's go. I could really use some of these Jedi resources."

Ben concentrated on the portals as they passed, and soon he stopped at one that was fairly dark.

"Here. It's Luke's Jedi temple after nightfall on the night of its destruction.”


	8. Treasures

Ben concentrated and reached out to Rey. Rey reached back to him and the bond opened. They looked at each other and nodded.

Stepping through the portal, Rey found herself inside a large structure. Ambient light came from fixtures around the room that were apparently always on at a low level, but it was dim inside, so Rey dug the glow stick out of her shoulder bag, turned it on, and held it up. There were many Jedi images, including paintings, statues, and holograms, displayed throughout the room, and rows of shelves filled with artifacts and texts lined the walls. There were benches near the front where the students could sit while Luke instructed them, and around the sides, niches had been made where students could meditate on the Force and the concepts they were being taught. It felt to her like a wonderful place of learning and discovery.

"This place is amazing!" Rey exclaimed softly.

_"Remember to always speak to me with your thoughts through the bond,"_ Ben replied. _"We must be as silent as possible."_

_"Right."_ Rey nodded. _"Hope I can remember that."_ She turned around in a circle. _"How much of this do you intend to take?"_

_"As much as possible. I know you can stop a transport ship in flight; you can do incredible things. We need to put our strength together and use the Force to carry as much out of here as we can."_

Ben pointed to an empty spot on one shelf. _"I managed to carry out a statue of guidance that was resting here. I probably carried it out of here only five or ten minutes ago, local time. We need to be quick. The destruction won't happen until much later tonight, and I don't think anyone will be roaming the grounds or awake to hear us or sense us, but I don't know for sure."_

Ben turned and pointed at a side door. _"That's the holocron vault. The holocrons are so powerful and valuable that the students could only use whatever holocrons were selected by Luke, and you had to be with him to use them."_ He pointed in another direction. _"That's the artifact storage room, where Luke kept weapons and items we didn't use, as well as artifacts which had powers Luke didn't understand yet."_

Ben pointed in yet another direction. _"That's the restricted archives, where Luke kept things which contained dangerous knowledge. A student had to be advanced in his or her studies in order to be ready to hear it, and some of the items were actually Sith artifacts that Luke didn't let anyone look at. He said he kept them because a person had to be able to understand one's enemies and their capabilities in order to be best prepared to guard against them, and fight them if necessary. I don't know if he would ever have let us look at them, but I wanted to. We're going to save that room for last. If we don't have time to get everything, these should be the items that get destroyed."_

_"All right, let's take what we can from this room first,"_ Rey responded. _"I have a compact sack that we can use to carry the smallest items. The bigger ones we'll have to levitate with the Force."_ She fished the slimly-folded sack from her shoulder bag and opened it up, then she began picking up crystals, data chips and data pads, figurines, and other artifacts, and carefully stowing them away. When she had filled the bag as much as she could and put it over her shoulder, she turned to Ben. _"Let's use our bond to pick up the rest of these things and go to the cave."_ She held out her glow stick. _You take this, and I will follow you to the cave."_

Both of them became still and concentrated on joining forces to pick up the remaining items, some quite large. Rey noticed with alarm that it wasn't just Ben's power that was less here in the past; it was hers too. She gasped, then covered her mouth. _"Ben, I have less strength here too! It's not just you!"_

_"I feel it."_ His echoing voice in her head sounded grim. _"We're far outside our time and neither of us is supposed to be here. But together, I'm sure we can do it. Let's go."_

Rey hadn't been sure how lifting all the artifacts would compare to the difficulty of raising all the rocks on Crait, since she was going to have to concentrate on keeping every item safe and accounted for as she walked along. Unfortunately, because of her reduced ability to tap into the Force, she could barely accomplish it, and only because Ben's power was helping her. She took a deep breath and followed the glow stick Ben was levitating.

It was very dark outside, which meant they had even more work to do with the Force, using it to scan their environment in order to determine the terrain and sense the presence of any other people, but at least the darkness hid the incredible sight of a woman walking along surrounded by a cloud of assorted objects. The relics were eventually going to become very heavy, Rey feared as she continued to follow Ben's light. 

Ben led Rey over a small hill. They remained on high alert as they crossed a field and approached a rocky lake shore. In the distance, a large hill loomed. _"We need to go to the other side of that hill,"_ Ben informed her.

Rey felt tired, but she knew they had to be strong. They were going to have to accomplish tasks which were much more high-stakes and complicated than this one.

On the other side of the hill, Rey followed Ben's light to the far side of a rock outcropping surrounded by trees and bushes. The light paused. _"It's pretty overgrown here. I think we're going to have to set everything down and take the items in one by one,"_ he explained.

Together the two of them carefully lowered all of the items. Rey adjusted her bags and followed Ben as he led her through a gap in the bushes and trees. Branches scratched her arms as she carefully guided herself and the load in her bag towards the cave entrance. She saw Ben's light disappear around a corner, and she soon found herself entering a cleft in the rock face. 

Inside, the passageway led downward for a little ways, then opened up to reveal a large cavern with a pool on one side. 

Rey spoke aloud. "I can imagine your delight at finding this place." 

Ben was looking off to the side where the rock wall had been carved by nature into a crude shelf. He pointed to something. _"The figurine I brought here just a little while ago. Let's put some of the smaller items here, then go out and carry more in."_

Rey worked as quickly as she dared, placing objects on the shelf. There wasn't enough room, so she began placing artifacts on the floor against the wall. When she was done, she followed Ben out, and she filled her bag again with as many relics as she could. 

_"Help me lift this, Rey,"_ she heard Ben ask. She concentrated her Force powers on helping him pick up a heavy orb, then she picked up a thick old book herself. She carried it in her arms; she knew she needed to conserve her Force energy. They made their way back into the cave, and Rey carefully placed the items down.

Ben and Rey repeated this task until all the Jedi treasures were in the cave. They made one last sweep of the area with their eyes and with the Force to make sure they hadn't lost any items in the grass and wildflowers when they'd set everything down before. Satisfied that all they'd brought was in the cave, they headed back.

Nearing the academy grounds, Ben and Rey suddenly froze. _"Someone's outside!"_ Rey thought frantically.

_"I feel it too,"_ Ben replied. _"Don't move. Don't use the Force in any way except to keep the bond open."_

Rey was sure the whole academy could hear her breathing—which was heavier than normal because of the effort she'd been exerting—as well as her heartbeat. She saw Ben walk ahead and disappear into the darkness. It was awfully useful to have a partner that couldn't be seen or heard, although she figured he could probably be sensed. 

As if to confirm her fears, she heard someone say, "Ben? Ben, you're out here, aren't you? Why aren't you in bed? Is there someone else out here?"

Rey heard a lightsaber ignite and saw a faint green glow. Then as suddenly as it appeared, it went away. She heard Ben call her. _"Rey, come over to where I am. I need your help."_

Rey headed in his direction and found him crouched next to an unconscious form. _"It's one of the other students. She sensed that something wasn't right and came out to investigate. She sensed me and thought the younger me was out and about. I had to use the Force to make her unconscious. They way I did to you in the Takodana forest. But I need you to carry her back to her quarters."_

Rey was getting tired but knew there was no choice. She dug deep with the Force, and Ben added what little he could, but he had really had to exert himself to make the student unconscious, so he didn't have a lot of energy left. Rey levitated the young woman and followed Ben and his light to a small hut. She carefully directed the body inside and let it down gently over the bed. She looked at the innocent Padawan and realized that she would very soon be dead. _"Can we save her life?"_ she thought to Ben.

_"It's horrible, but I don't think so. If Luke still had a Padawan left, would his choices be the same? How would she factor into our story? It breaks my heart, but—"_ Ben broke off and looked up, focused on something else. _"We've got to get back,"_ Ben spoke urgently. _"Luke is up...I can sense his agitation in the Force. He knows something is wrong, and he senses that I'm involved somehow. I can only hope that he will soon be distracted my younger self's dark dreams and thoughts—the ones that scared him originally—before he finds you."_

_"Got it."_ Rey exited the hut and took off as quickly as she dared, trying not to make noise as she scurried back to the temple. She too, could now sense Luke, and he was roaming the grounds, heading for them. She slipped into the temple and raced back to the portal. Her bond with Ben was of course still open, so she was able to jump through immediately.

Rey spent a few minutes catching her breath and calming herself—and also looking through the portal to assure herself that Luke hadn't come into the temple looking for her. A few seconds later and she might have been caught! If Luke had caught sight of her and been distracted by that, how might the events of that night have gone differently? And what if he'd entered the temple and noticed all his artifacts were missing?

Once she felt reasonably assured they were in the clear, he looked up at Ben as something occurred to her. She snapped her fingers and pointed at him. "I need to learn to make someone unconscious! That will probably come in seriously helpful again!"

Ben chuckled. "I can teach you how. But let's finish the mission first."

"All right. Well, I won't let you forget to show me." She took a deep breath. "So, the locked rooms. What's your plan?"

"From here we should be able to get into any place, so I intend to find portals that lead straight to the interiors. And we'll also go back in time to just after we left with our first load of artifacts."

Ben's eyebrows went up all of a sudden. "I can't believe I didn't think of that first! I can't believe neither of us did. We're smarter than this."

"What?"

"We didn't have to take the relics over land at all! We could have just taken them through the portal into the World Between Worlds, and then we could have taken them back through another portal that led straight into the cave! I just realized that, because I was thinking about how we were going to overcome the problem of running into Luke on our way back from depositing our second load."

"You're right! We don't need to run into anyone at all!"

Ben took her hand. He couldn't get enough of holding it. "Let's concentrate on finding the right portal." He closed his eyes as they stepped forward along the line of portals, but they didn't need to walk far; he stopped at the very next portal.  
"Here we are. The holocron room, I hope."

They looked at each other and their bond snapped into place. It was becoming easier and more natural to initiate it. Rey stepped through the portal into total darkness. She turned on her glow stick and looked around. There were not nearly as many holocrons as there had been relics in the other room. She set the glow stick on a shelf, then silently and carefully began loading the holocrons into her unfolded sack. When she was finished, she signaled to Ben, and they both went back through the portal. 

Without even speaking, they walked along the row of portals while Ben concentrated. He stopped and faced one. "Here's the cave." The last trip through a portal was so quick, they hadn't even let their bond drop. Rey sensed clearly through the bond that Ben was nervous. He hadn't seemed anxious about going through the portals before. She was about to ask what was wrong, but Ben had already taken her hand and was leading her through. Her senses on high alert, she turned on her glow stick. "Ben's right again," she thought, as her glow stick revealed the cave, full of the artifacts they had recently left there.

_"I'm relieved these are still here,"_ Ben said to her through the bond. _"I brought us to the cave in the present day because I wanted to see if everything had survived. We actually put all these artifacts here eight years ago."_

"So that's why you were so anxious."

Ben looked her in the eyes. _"It's going to be hard to hide anything from each other."_

Rey stared at him and nodded. It was indeed. Her face hot from her unvoiced thoughts, Rey turned around and set all the holocrons down. She also took the packet containing Luke and Leia's sabers out of her shoulder bag and laid them with everything else. Without looking at Ben, she hurried by him. "Let's go."

They stepped through the portal again, and if she wasn't mistaken, Ben was amused. She let the bond drop.

Ben put his hand on her arm and pulled her into an embrace. "Don't be embarrassed. If you knew half the things I thought about you, you'd probably die."

Rey pulled back and stared at him with indignation, but he just laughed delightedly. Grabbing her hand, he led her back down the row of portals. He became serious, and Rey knew he was concentrating on finding the right one. He stopped and looked at her, giving her a lopsided grin. "Gonna have to open the bond again, sweetheart." 

Rey huffed, but she knew it was true. She took a moment to stuff her thoughts away and concentrated on finishing the mission. They opened their bond and stepped into another dark room.

Taking away all the artifacts in the remaining two rooms took multiple trips, as there were far more items stored there than in the holocron room. But eventually, every last nook and cranny had been emptied of Jedi objects. Rey had been absolutely fascinated with the number and variety of items, and looked forward one day to going through them all and learning—hopefully from Ben, and also hopefully from Jedi spirits like Luke and Yoda—what was special about each of them. But right now, she was exhausted.

"Ben," she began, after they left the cave for the last time and were once again in the World Between Worlds, "I'm tired. After all that we've done, I need some rest. I also need some food. I haven't eaten in awhile now."

"Of course! If you can wait just a little while to rest, let's take care of the food part first."

"I have a few rations in my bag—"

"No, I have a plan."


	9. History

"All right." Rey agreed to follow whatever Ben's plan was. They clasped hands again and walked down the row of portals. _How many portals will we end up going through?_ Rey wondered to herself.

They passed portal after portal, and Ben slowed, focusing. "This one."

Wordlessly, by mutual understanding, they connected to each other through the bond. "Wait here a moment while I make sure the coast is clear," Ben said. He returned shortly, telling her it was all right to go in, and Rey stepped through the portal into a cluster of trees in what looked like a city park. _"Where are we?"_

_"Chandrila. Where I was born and lived for awhile when I was young. We're in a park in Hanna City, the capital. I thought that coming in through this park—a place I remember visiting in my childhood—would provide some cover for you. It might be a bit disconcerting for people to see a woman pop into existance out of the blue."_ Ben's voice was mirthful in Rey's mind. _"Follow me. You're going to go get kerrai noodles—the best food on Chandrila and a local specialty."_

Rey followed Ben through the city streets until they came upon an unassuming restaurant called Kerrai House. _"Oh, I forgot to tell you,"_ Ben remarked, _"we're not in the present day. The currency situation is a bit, well, in transition right now. They'll probably take anything you have."_

Rey looked at him. _"When are we?"_

_"You'll find out soon enough. Let's just get you something to eat first."_

As they entered the establishment, Ben kept speaking. _"Order the kerrai noodles with Sheppat antelope meat—it's so tender and flavorful—and make shure to add green patsill sprouts."_

_"All right."_

Rey waited for her turn in line—the restaurant was very busy—and when she reached the order screen, she punched in the currency she would be using and then ordered exactly what Ben had suggested. When it asked whether the order was for dine in or takeaway, she didn't know what to choose.

Rey paused. _"Ben, what—"_

_“Takeaway."_ She pressed the takeaway button and her total came up: 2.38 aurei.

Rey placed three aurei in the currency receptacle and took the change. "Order number 1711," the kiosk said and slid out a ticket with 1711 displayed on it. 

Rey took the ticket and stood off to the side, silently drinking in all the sights and sounds. After growing up on Jakku, she still wasn't used to metropolitan areas, and it was all rather overwhelming.

"Order number 1711," a droid called. Rey handed it the ticket and grabbed the bag, then made her way out of the restaurant.

_"Follow me,"_ Ben instructed her again. _"We're going to the Eleutherian Plaza."_

They didn't have far to walk, but the fact that the streets were quite crowded meant that Rey's progress was slower than it might have been. It was still weird to see Ben going through other people—or other people going through Ben, whichever it really was. But there were so many people that this happened quite frequently.

_"Is there something going on today?"_ she asked Ben.

_"Yes, you'll see."_

Soon they approached the Plaza that contained the Chandrila Senate House, the first seat of the New Republic government after the defeat of the Empire. The place was filled with people, and large video displays were set up around the plaza. 

Rey was busy drinking in everything when she heard Ben's voice call out a warning. _"You're about to get pickpocketed."_

Rey snapped to attention and used the Force to increase her awareness. Turning her head, she saw a teenage boy reaching into her satchel. She grabbed his arm with lightning speed and his head snapped up, his eyes wide. "Go home and rethink your life," she told him, imbuing her words with the same command as a Jedi mind trick. 

"I'm going to go home and rethink my life," the boy told her, turning around and hustling away.

_"Thanks, Ben."_

_"I'll always have your back."_

There were so many people that in order to eat, Rey had to sit down on the ground with her back resting against a statue's plinth. Ben sat next to her, although parts of other people were routinely going through him as they milled around, so it was a little surreal.

_"I'm sorry,"_ Ben began. _"I didn't really think about the lack of space to sit down, especially if you had a container of kerrai noodles to eat."_

Rey waved away his objections. _"It's not the worst place I've had to eat in."_ She was in a forgiving mood, a mood that became even more forgiving once she started in on her meal. After opening the takeaway box, she stared in amazement at the food. _"These noodles...they're transparent! How do they do that? What are they made out of?"_

Rey could hear a little chuckle through the bond. _"They're made from starch that comes from kerrai, a root vegetable. How they make them and why they are clear, I don't know. I do know, though, that I absolutely loved kerrai noodles with Sheppat antelope meat when I was a boy."_

Taking the fork out of its packaging, Rey dove into the mixture of transparent noodles, green sprouts, strips of meat, and assorted vegetables, all stir-fried in a brown sauce. _"Oh my gosh. This is amazing!!"_ Even though she didn't need her mouth to talk to Ben, Rey continued eating in silence, unable to savor the meal and talk to him at the same time.

_"What did I tell you?"_

Rey looked over and returned his smile. Suddenly conscious of how her behavior might appear to onlookers, she went back to her meal and soon devoured it all, even though it had been a large portion. 

Just as she rose to her feet, she heard an announcement over the amplification system that was set up. "Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention please." The crowd quieted down significantly. "Please direct your attention to the Senate House balcony or one of the many video displays. I present to you Chancellor of the New Republic, Mon Mothma!" The Chancellor's anthem played, and Mon Mothma stepped forward on the balcony. 

_"Mon Mothma!"_ Rey said in wonderment. _"This is some time ago, then."_

Chancellor Mothma began to speak. "It is with great joy that I announce to you that Senator Leia Organa, Princess of Alderaan, and her husband, General Han Solo, both esteemed Rebellion heroes, have welcomed into the galaxy their firstborn child, a son, Ben Solo."

The crowd erupted in cheers, and Rey turned to Ben, her mouth agape. The Chancellor continued, and the crowd quieted. "It is my honor to present to you Leia Organa, Han Solo, and their son, the heir to House Organa, Ben Solo!"

The crowd cheered even louder this time. Rey clambered up onto the plinth for a better look, although there were already plenty of people on top of it, particularly children. She could barely see the figures of the Solo family on the balcony in the far distance, but their images in the video displays were close up and right in front of her. She stared at the younger versions of her dear mentor and trainer, Leia; the man who had been like a father to her for one brief day, Han; and the beautiful baby boy with dark hair, asleep despite all the noise, peaceful in his mother's embrace—Ben.

Rey didn't care if she cried in front of thousands of people. What did it matter anyway? She couldn't stop the tears from running down her face, and she couldn't stop staring at the trio on the display. In her peripheral vision, she saw Ben step up next to her. _"I wanted to bring you here to see one time when we were happy as a family, full of joy and hope, and the galaxy—which had just celebrated the Liberation from the Empire—was happy and hopeful too."_

Glancing over quickly, Rey saw she wasn't the only one crying. She knew they weren't physical tears, which meant that they were truly tears of the heart and soul. She couldn't embrace him, so she sent him some love through the bond.

_"I have to do it, Rey. I have to try to save my father. I don't know what it will change, or if it will even work. But he deserves it. And I don't just want to do it for him, or for me. I want my parents to have another year together—hopefully, if he doesn't die at the hands of the First Order anyway. Their marriage might not have been perfect, but my dad loved my mom, and my mom loved him."_ He shook his head. _"I can't believe my dad left my mom. It was out of character completely. Only the most devastating news in the galaxy could possibly make him think that was a good idea, or the least worst, anyway. And that news was about me. Me."_

Ben was choked up and couldn't continue. Rey sent him all the comfort she could, although it felt useless in the face of his grief and guilt. _"I'll help you. You have my word."_

_"Thank you,"_ was all he could manage.

Rey continued to watch the scene as Han and Leia waved to the animated, excited crowd. Looking back and forth between the video displays and the balcony, she tried to memorize every detail like a photograph. She knew countless photos and holos of this moment existed, but she wanted to capture what it felt like to be here in person, with all the sights, sounds, and smells. 

Eventually the Solo family retreated indoors, and Rey slipped off the statue's base. _"Thank you for bringing me. It was incredibly special."_

_"You're welcome."_

They walked in silence back to the park. Ben could sense Rey's fatigue and tried to pass a little strength to her through the bond, but they'd had it open so long, he was getting tired, too. _"Just a little farther, and then you can rest, sweetheart."_

They approached the park and made straight for the trees. Ben looked around at the people going to and fro. _"On my mark, go through the portal."_ He waited until no one seemed to be looking. _"Now."_

Rey slipped back into the World Between Worlds, and Ben followed, just in time to feel their bond drop and see her swoon, looking as if she would fall. Though there was no hard ground here, by instinct Ben dashed forward and caught her up in his arms. Immediately he had a flashback to the forest on Takodana, where he'd done the same—because he was abducting her. Now he had her in his arms because he loved her and cared for her.

"I'm so tired, Ben. I shouldn't be so tired..."

"Who can say whether you should or shouldn't be tired, after all we've done—traveling all over time and space, learning how to open our bond on command and keep it open for long periods of time, using the Force for hours. You're strong, my love. Just rest now." 

Rey closed her eyes and laid her head and one of her hands on his chest. Ben sat down, still holding her, and let her rest in his lap. He caressed her cheek; she sighed and drifted off to sleep.


	10. Deliberation

It was impossible in this place to say how much time passed, but as Rey awoke, she felt refreshed. As awareness returned, she found herself still in Ben's arms. "It's good I don't have a real body or some of my arms and legs would be numb right now," he told her teasingly. 

She smiled up into his face and took a deep breath. "I'd kind of like to just stay here forever."

"I know." He sighed and looked off into the distance. "It's tempting to put off what we need to do. I know I'm afraid. I feel like if we never start, then we'll never fail. I'm afraid now I've gotten my hopes up, and if it doesn't work..." he shuddered, "...then my worst mistakes aren't fixable, and the galaxy must live with the consequences."

He looked back down at Rey's face. "Promise me you won't feel like you've failed if things don't go as planned."

She sat up and turned so that she was sitting with her back against him. She leaned the back of her head against his chest. He put his arms around her middle, and she put her hands on his. "I can't promise I won't feel that way. But, Ben, I thought a lot about your plans on my way to Exegol. As wonderful as it would be to save a hundred billion lives and five planets, I'm having some misgivings. Bringing people back from the dead is one thing, because at least they already existed. But because of the destruction of the Hosnian system, people who would have had children with other people who died there have now gone on to meet, marry, and have children with different people. If we change history, those children will cease to exist."

She paused and continued carefully. "Ben, have you thought that maybe you're not supposed to change what has happened, no matter how bad it was, because wiping these children out of existence isn't the will of the Force?"

Ben was quiet for a long moment. "I have thought about it. A lot. It troubles me still. However, I—we, the First Order—already wiped out of existence all the millions of children who would have been born in the future to those who died in the attack. It's not just their parents we can save, it's them, too—people who will not otherwise exist if we don't try to change events. 

"And it's not just the sentient beings, although they are the most important. It's also all the other life forms, the worlds themselves, and the irreplaceable works of art, architecture, history, and culture. What we did left a wound in the Force—a giant one. It might not have haunted the likes of Hux or Pryde, but it haunted me. I believe now that the Force is leading me to heal its wound."

"How do you know?"

"I spent so many years trying to ignore the will of the Force. I only cared about my own will. When I left my old life behind on Kef Bir, it was the first time in many years that I'd considered the will of the Force and what the right thing to do was, rather than only my own desires. It was like being reborn. I've been trying to listen to the Force and discern its will ever since. And since I've been here, I've felt led. Every time I come back to the World Between Worlds through a portal, regardless of which one I've gone through, the portals around me are the same. I can walk far away from them and enter another one, but when I come out, the same ones are there waiting for me: the Starkiller Base control room, the bridge where I killed my father, and the Star Destroyer _Derriphan_. In fact, there's the one we came out of earlier," he gestured to the one beside them, "and there's Starkiller Base," he continued, pointing to the one right across from them.

"The Force seems to want you to go there," Rey murmured. "But Ben, the First Order wiped out the majority of the New Republic defense fleet in the attack on the Hosnian system. If we save Hosnian, then after Starkiller Base is destroyed, The First Order will face resistance from a full-strength Republic fleet. It won't be able to take over the major systems like it did in the first timeline, and when Leia sends out her distress call from Crait, few will be afraid to come to the defense of the Resistance. The balance of power will be so drastically changed that events probably won't turn out the same."

"I know, but here's how I see it, and I have a pretty good idea how the First Order will react. Hux will behave like a rabid dog, and everyone from Snoke on down will want to avenge their losses. They still have the Supremacy, a large fleet with dreadnoughts, and hyperspace tracking, and none of them want to retreat back into the shadows in the Unknown Regions, so they will plan to start by taking over smaller systems first. They will still be determined to wipe out the Resistance, so they will follow the Resistance just the same. Your allies may respond positively to Leia's distress call, but Crait is pretty remote, and no one will be able to get there in time. Luke will still have to confront me, and you will still have to rescue them on the Falcon. Palpatine will certainly want to accelerate his plans, but he can't finish building a fleet that size overnight."

Rey turned around in his arms and pulled away to face him. "All right, let's do it. But I'm not going before you show me how to make someone unconscious—and any other neat tricks that will come in handy! Like how to survive an explosion! How in the heavens did you survive after I cut your TIE fighter's wing off??"

"I survived the initial crash and the cockpit barreling across the desert by making a Force barrier around myself. Just before the cockpit exploded, I was able to eject."

"I felt bad about it afterwards."

"I was asking for it."

Ben was silent for a moment. "Making a Force barrier was also how I kept myself from dying when Palpatine sent me flying into the pit. I was so weak then that I couldn't make much of a protective barrier, so I still got pretty smashed up, but if I hadn't done it, I'd definitely have died when I hit bottom."

"He sent you flying into a pit?"

"Yeah. Just after he drained our life force. You were unconscious, so I guess you never knew what happened to me."

"Oh, Ben." She put her hand up and touched the side of his face. "I only knew when I got up the first time, you were gone. Then when I woke up later, you were there. I'm...I'm not exactly sure what happened, I only know that Finn told me later that he thought I'd died...he felt it in the Force."

Ben put his hand on Rey's cheek. "I felt it too, while I was climbing out of the pit. You didn't fade away into the Force, so you couldn't have been completely dead, but...you were as good as dead."

"You brought me back...you healed me. By giving me all the life force you had left."

"Yes." Ben's voice and gaze were intense. "And whatever may happen to me, I don't regret it one bit. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Rey was crying. "How can I ever thank you?"

"Just by loving me, you gave me—and you're giving me—the greatest gift you could." Ben leaned down slowly towards her lips, and she tipped her face up to meet them. The kiss was slow and tender, sweet and lingering. As he pulled away, Ben used his thumbs to gently wipe away her tears. 

"I'll give you a lesson in handy Force abilities. Are you ready?" She nodded. "Let's go back to the cave, then."

Ben took her hand in his again and walked back to the portal to the cave where they'd left all their artifacts. "We'll go into the present day again so that we'll be at our strongest." Rey looked at him and he nodded. They connected through their bond and went through into the cave. 

Ben taught her how to make a protective barrier around herself first. She tested it out by trying to walk into the cave walls, and she knew she'd succeeded because she couldn't bump into them—she stopped and bounced back before even touching them. Finally, he taught her the principle of how to make someone unconscious, but as there wasn't a person to practice on, she just had to hope it would work if she needed it. 

"Are you ready to go back? Ready to plan our incursion into Starkiller Base?" Ben asked Rey at last. 

"I'm not sure I'll ever be ready, but...I don't think delaying will help." After exiting the portal, they let the bond drop. 

"Ben, I need you go back into the cave."

"Huh?"

"I have to change into my First Order uniform."

A wicked grin spread over his face. "Do I have to?"

"Get out of here!"

"All right, all right." Ben was laughing as he backed away towards the portal. He wagged his finger at her playfully. "Someday, beautiful..." He winked at her before disappearing.

Rey's stomach was doing flips and her heart was beating harder than it should. She shook her head and took some deep breaths to try to calm herself. She quickly took the uniform out of the bag. It was wrinkled, so she used the Force to try to smooth it out, which worked pretty well, considering she'd never tried anything like that before. After donning the uniform, she attached her holster underneath the trousers and concealed her little blaster. She practiced drawing the blaster numerous times to make sure she could do it quickly in the moment.

Rey reached out to Ben through the Force. She supposed that this would test their ability to call to each other and open their bond through both time and space.  
Ben appeared in front of her. "You called?" 

"I'm ready."

"Be right back." Ben disappeared and shortly reappeared through the portal.  
"You're the prettiest First Order officer I ever met."

Rey blushed. "I might need some help with my facial disguise." She picked up the rubbery mask and a small compact mirror, then gave the mirror to Ben and asked him to hold it up. She began to apply the mask carefully around all of her facial features, but it was hard to see in the small mirror, so after she'd done what she could, she asked Ben to press the edges down with the adhesive and do his best to conceal the border. The process was a pain, but they couldn't take the chance that she'd be recognized; the control room cameras would record her, and Kylo must not see the image of a person who matched Rey's likeness. They had decided not to short out the security cameras in the control room, because they did not need a real repair technician showing up before Rey.

Once Ben had inspected her disguise from close up and far away and pronounced it acceptable, he began asking questions. "What is your alias?"

"First Lieutenant Taryss Dru."

"I'm going to start calling you that right now. You need to assimilate your identity as much as possible."

Rey nodded and Ben began to explain First Order protocol so that she wouldn't give herself away by making an obvious mistake. He drilled her on her name, where she had transferred from, what her job was, and what reason she had for being where she was and doing what she would be doing. He made her practice addressing both superior officers and lower ranking soldiers. He briefed her on the layout of the base—at least what he knew of it. Rey used the Force to cement all of the information in her mind, but putting the pieces together took practice. At first she made nervous mistakes and was slow to formulate answers when Ben impersonated a stern superior officer and quizzed her, but after reminding her that she would do better if she used the Force to calm herself, Rey began to answer his questions confidently and act out her role with authenticity.

Finally, it was time to go. Ben took hold of both of her hands. "Whatever happens, know that I love you, and I'm grateful you were willing to do something difficult and dangerous to help me—and that, considering everything, you trust me." 

"I do trust you. May the Force be with us." She gave his hands a squeeze, as if imparting strength.

"Yes, may the Force be with us." They walked to a nearby portal. When Ben indicated this was the one, Rey took a big breath, and they connected their bond. The portal to the Starkiller Base control room had been right across from them, but that wasn't where she was going first. She needed to go to a location on the base where no one else was present and use her communicator to wirelessly hack into the First Order's personnel database and add her profile. Once she was successful, she was going to head for the main control room. The biggest problem to be overcome was that the control room was a "clean" room, meaning the navigation and targeting systems were not connected to the First Order network, in order to avoid sabotage and hacking. The computers in the control room were physically wired to each other. She was going to have to get physical access to the targeting computers—an extremely difficult task.

The plan was to go through a portal into a ladies' lavatory near the control room. Ben would enter first and use the Force to burn out components of the security camera system in the area so they no longer worked. When he indicated the room was unoccupied, Rey would then enter into the restroom to do her hacking. Once done, she would exit back into the corridor, where she would blend in with other repair techs attempting to fix the cameras. 

She would then enter the control room under the excuse of needing to inspect the room because of the electrical surges that had taken out the area's security cameras. Along with adding her data to the personnel database, she was going to plant a fake order for an inspection of the control room. Once inside the room, she would explain that she needed to plug her communicator into the computer system to run a diagnostic. In truth, she would activate the code that would give her access to all the systems. 

Rey would change the target coordinates to the Chernon system, a system containing numerous rocky, uninhabited planets, which was located between the Hosnian system and the Corellian system. The planets were the site of ancient mining installations, but they had never been very rich in valuable materials, and the larger systems around Chernon had stripped the planets bare over the millennia and abandoned them long ago. After re-setting the coordinates, she would immediately deploy the virus that would prevent anyone from accessing any of the navigation, targeting, or firing mechanisms. Then she would make as quick an exit as possible back to the restroom and the portal.

Rey nodded to Ben, indicating she was ready. Ben nodded back. He entered the portal, and she waited for him to return, her First Order communicator in her hand and turned on. It wasn't long before she saw him step through the portal again. "It's done. No one is in the restroom. It's go time."

Rey felt like she might vomit from nerves, but she quickly gathered the Force around her and entered the portal. She immediately turned into a stall, shut the door, and deployed the code, just as Yuna had showed her. She waited impatiently as the code did its work, and then suddenly an access screen appeared. She recalled Harris's instructions about navigating First Order systems and located the personnel database. Opening it, she quickly uploaded her profile data, and felt intense relief when a note saying "addition successful" popped up on the screen. 

Now to file an order for her alter ego to check for electrical surge damage in the control room. She could already hear tech repair crews working on the security cameras. She would need to emerge soon, since it would surely occur to the Tech Repair division before too long to send someone to check out the control room, and she needed to get there before that person did.

Rey became aware that her fingers were shaking, and she reached out for the calming presence of the Force again. She was able to successfully log a fake tech repair order, but she knew she did not have long before someone became aware of its existence. She exited the stall and walked quickly towards the restroom door.


	11. Audacity

Rey exited the restroom not knowing which direction she should go. She quickly queried Ben, who told her she should go left, the opposite direction from where techs would working on the nearest security camera.

"I just don't understand what happened," one of them said. "There's no record of any power surges in this sector." 

Rey turned and walked purposefully in the direction Ben had told her to go. "You there," one of the men called. "You with the tech repair bag." 

Rey froze. She turned around to face the man. He saw her rank insignia and apologized. "Forgive me, lieutenant. I have never seen you before. I wondered where you were going, because you weren't assigned to any of the camera repair teams, yet you got here before us."

Rey knew that Jedi mind tricks wouldn't work on everyone here, especially not smarter crew members like tech repair personnel. But she used the Force to project as much confidence and authority as she could, hoping that would at least influence them and make them more likely to believe her. Time was ticking!

"I just transferred from Sector Delta," she said, referencing the area of Starkiller Base farthest from the control room. "I'm here to make sure there was no surge damage in the control room. General Hux is about to launch the attack on the New Republic."

"Yes." The man sounded proud. "We wouldn't want anything to disrupt this momentous occasion. Carry on!" He gave her a smart salute and went back to his work. Rey breathed a sigh of relief and hurried down the corridor as fast as she dared. There, at the end, was a thick metal door with a biometric security lock, and Rey knew she was indeed in the right place. 

After bringing up the tech repair order she had planted just minutes ago on her communicator, which she wanted to have available the instant she made it through the door in order to save time, she pulled her ID chip out of her uniform pocket and stuck it in the slot on the lock. 

The security system processed her chip and then asked for a security code. After typing in the code the Resistance hackers had put in for her, the display screen asked for her to look at the camera for the iris scan. After the scan, she placed her fingers on the print recognition pad, then rubbed one of them on the skin cell collector, which would analyze her DNA. It took what seemed like forever to complete.

Rey heard the door lock release, and suddenly she was facing the control room she'd seen in one of the dreams she'd had when Ben was calling out to her.  
The weapons systems commander whirled around to look at her. His face was stern and angry at the unexpected disruption. "Who are you and why are you here?" 

_"Project authority,"_ Ben hurriedly spoke into her mind as she held up her communicator facing the commanding officer. _"He won't respect you—and will start to suspect you—if you shrink from him at all." ___

__Rey infused her demeanor and speech with all the authoritative assurance she could. "First lieutenant Taryss Dru from Tech Repair. I have an order here to inspect this room for possible damage from electrical surges. Several of our security cameras in this area went black due to a power surge. With all the controls in here being wired, it's imperative that everything be kept in perfect working order."_ _

__"What a time to be having power surges, just as we are about to launch our attack on the Hosnian system!" he barked. "Get right to work!"_ _

__"Yes, sir!" She saluted him and turned to the nearest console. "I need to run a diagnostic," she told the woman sitting at the station. "I'll just plug into the port here and start a systems check."_ _

__"Check up on that service order," Rey heard the commander say to a nearby officer._ _

___"I'll keep a lookout,"_ Ben told her, and went through the door into the corridor._ _

__The woman looked at Rey a bit suspiciously as Rey plugged in her connector cord and attached the communicator. Immediately deploying the all-access code again, she casually angled the communicator away from any eyes that might oversee. As with everything else so far, the process seemed agonizingly slow, but finally she was in. She desperately wished she could have familiarized herself with the location of the weapons guidance program before ever leaving the restroom stall, but with those systems being isolated in this clean room, of course she couldn't do that. The officer sitting at the computer was shooting glances at her out of the corner of her eyes._ _

__Rey gathered the Force around her and used it to bring all of Harris's information to the forefront of her mind. Finally locating the program, she opened it and tapped on the coordinates. It asked for a password! That wasn't supposed to happen if she had broken into these systems with an all-access code, was it? Then she remembered what Cordray had said about possible extra layers of security. Of course this program would have that!_ _

___"Ben!"_ she called furiously, not even knowing what he could do about it. _"I need a password to change the target coordinates!"__ _

___"I'm on it,"_ she heard him say. _"I'll go back through the portal and back in time to when the chief weapons officer logs in. I'll watch him type in the password and report back."_ Ben sprinted away through the door and down the corridor as fast as he could. She could tell the moment he went through the portal; although she could still sense him through the bond, immediately he seemed more distant. This lasted only a moment, however, before he popped right back in._ _

__Rey knew she only had to wait as long as it took him to get through the portal and back, since he could return to exactly this point in time no matter how long it took him to discover the passcode. But it was still an interminable wait. "Your diagnostic is taking an awful long time," the officer next to her said._ _

__"So far I have found no problems, Major, but I must check every computer in this room," Rey replied evenly._ _

__Ben sprinted back in. He pulled up next to Rey and told her the passcode one character at a time. _"I'm in!"_ she exulted._ _

__"Commander," Rey heard the comms officer say to the man in charge. "I'm being advised that General Hux is beginning his speech to the troops. Are all systems go?"_ _

__Rey's heart leapt into her throat as she quickly searched the database for the Chernon system. Ben sent her waves of calm through the bond. She knew he could feel what she was feeling._ _

__Section chiefs around the room reported that all systems were go. She had only a minute or so to make the change._ _

__She selected the Chernon system, chose the five targets within the system that Ben had chosen in advance, and pressed "set coordinates." A message popped up asking for the passcode again. _Of course this would happen!_ she thought to herself, but Ben was already telling her the characters again. _ _

__Once the passcode was entered, a "coordinates set" message appeared. Rey knew she had only seconds to act, and with her heart racing, she immediately punched in the command to fire the weapon. She had to make sure the command to fire was enacted before her changes were noticed, or the First Order would simply hold off on their attack until the problems were sorted out._ _

__With that task accomplished, Rey switched gears and worked furiously to begin deployment of the virus on the base's critical control systems. She knew her only hope of succeeding lay in her ability to deploy the virus in the split seconds that would elapse between the officers noticing her changes and recovering from their shock. Fortunately for Rey, all the "clean room" systems were stored together in one area, so she could apply the virus to them all at the same time._ _

__Just as she was doing this, the control room door opened, and a tech repair officer stepped into the room. "Tech Repair Captain Trager reporting with an order to—" The man collapsed, for Ben, summoning as much strength as he could muster, had stepped over next to him and used the Force to cause him to lose consciousness. The timing of the tech repair officer's interruption and subsequent fall to the floor worked entirely to Ben and Rey's advantage, as the commotion grabbed the room's attention, buying precious seconds for the virus to infect the systems before Rey's changes were noticed._ _

__Two nearby personnel rushed to Trager's side, but the rest of the officers were not distracted for long. Within seconds, more chaos erupted._ _

__"Commander!" A man's voice spoke urgently. "The target coordinates have been changed!" He paused for a second to look back at his screen. "And the weapon has been set to fire!"_ _

__"What!?" the commander bellowed._ _

__"Commander!" A woman's shrill voice could be heard this time. "The base's maneuvering systems have been activated! We're turning in a different direction!"_ _

__"Halt the firing sequence! Shut down the maneuvering systems!" the commander shouted._ _

__"I'm trying, but it's telling me I don't have access!"_ _

__The suspicious female officer sitting at the console where Rey was plugged in narrowed her eyes and then suddenly stood, pointed her finger at Rey, and shouted, "It's HER!" The room's attention focused on Rey._ _

___"Let's go!"_ Ben exclaimed, but Rey was already pulling her communicator's cord from the computer's port. The two guards at the door had their blasters up and ready in a flash, and if Rey had not had the ability to use the Force, she would have been dead from their shots. But with Force-enhanced reflexes, she dashed to one side, avoiding the blaster bolts, and shoved the guard next to her, fortifying her strength with the Force so that he stumbled into the other and they both fell._ _

__The guards weren't the only ones pulling blasters on her, however. As Rey made to exit through the thick door, the commander took aim at her and fired. The shot never connected, though, as Ben reached out his hand and deflected the bolt slightly to one side so that it exploded against the moving door just as Rey slipped through it._ _

__The guards quickly got their footing back and scrambled to follow her. Dashing down the corridor, Rey pulled the small blaster from the concealed holster and glanced backward, firing with Force-guided accuracy. The two guards fell._ _

__The commander gave chase, barking orders into his wrist communicator, but he had been farther away from Rey than the guards, and in addition to that, he had to maneuver around the bodies of the guards that were now lying in the corridor, giving Rey several more seconds to escape. Barreling into the ladies' restroom, thankfully devoid of women, Rey shot through the portal and exited Starkiller Base into the World Between Worlds. Ben, who had been covering her retreat, followed on her heels. Their bond dropped, as they no longer had the strength to stay connected. Rey turned around, and through the portal, she saw the commander open the restroom door and look around in confusion, then throw open all the stall doors and yell some more. He would never find her. They had done it!_ _

__"Yes!!!" Rey pumped her fist and shouted in exultation. She jumped into Ben's arms, and he kissed her soundly. Flooded with adrenaline, residual terror, and exhilaration, they embraced each other so tightly, it was as if they would never let each other go._ _

__However, they had one more task to accomplish. If they didn't remove the "Taryss Dru" ID from the First Order database, the data techs would find it in the record of who had accessed the control room, and it would be flagged as an enemy operative when it was synched into the First Order network. If that happened, she would never be able to use her biometrics again. They couldn't be certain that she would not run into a situation in which she needed them, and if she did, it would be imperative that they removed the ID now. They had to be prepared for any contingency. Furthermore, although the likelihood was extremely remote, they couldn't run the risk that anyone in the future might figure out that "Taryss Dru" was Rey._ _

__The virus, on the other hand, would likely never be found. Yuna had explained to Rey that the First Order would have to reboot all their control systems from backups if they wanted to use them again right away, and she and Ben knew that the First Order would not be able to track down what went wrong before the base was destroyed._ _

__Ben concentrated on bringing up the portal they needed. They only required an isolated area for Rey to enter and then remove herself from the system using her communicator. They would do this just after the weapon had fired—about five minutes after Rey burst out of the control room._ _

__Ben gestured to the portal they had just approached. "Stormtrooper quarters. No one will be here right now, since they're on the parade ground listening to Hux. Just to be sure you're not discovered, we'll scramble the door mechanism." He nodded, and as their bond was still open, they stepped right through._ _

__Rey and Ben immediately headed for the door mechanism. They put their hands on the wall and concentrated on frying the circuits. It wouldn't open for awhile._ _

__Rey opened up her communicator and did all the same things as she had before, but this time she removed her own personnel entry instead of adding it. _"Done,"_ she told Ben, and they stepped through the portal._ _

__They dropped their bond and looked at each other. Rey spoke first. "Ben! Did it work? Did we save the Hosnian system?"_ _

__"Let's try to remember what happened. If we changed the past, we should remember events differently."_ _

__They both closed their eyes and concentrated deeply. Their memories seemed disjointed, changing. After a time, Rey spoke. "I have two different memories of what happened."_ _

__"I do too," Ben replied. "I remember the Hosnian system being destroyed, but I also remember the debacle on Starkiller when the Chernon system was destroyed instead of the Hosnian system. It was chaos, with everyone wondering how a mysterious girl—captured only on the control room security cameras—got in and changed everything, and then disappeared without a trace. When they tried to bring up records of who accessed the control room, the information was deleted."_ _

__Rey spoke again. "Things were different after the Resistance destroyed Starkiller, too. I remember Leia telling me all about it after Crait. The Republic couldn't amass enough ships in time to take on the large fleet that chased Leia's force. They began pulling capital ships from various systems, but as soon as they did that, First Order spies alerted their leaders, and the First Order swooped in and sent their own ships to take control of the systems. At the same time, the Resistance figured out that they were being tracked through hyperspace and told the Republic ships to turn back. They did so, only to end up in a firefights, and many were destroyed. Despite this, the Republic did send ships in response to Leia's distress call once Holdo had crippled the fleet. You were right, though—they couldn't get there in time."_ _

__Rey threaded the fingers of both hands through Ben's and leaned up against him. "Ben, I'm tired again. That took a lot out of me."_ _

__"Of course." He kissed her forehead. "Rey, you were amazing. I know you were sick with anxiety, but you kept your head and together we saved five planets and 100 billion people. I love you."_ _

__She smiled at him. "I love you too, and I'm glad you have my back."_ _

__"I have a plan for where we can go for some food and some more sightseeing. Take a nap now and we'll go when you're recharged."_ _

__"All right." Rey suddenly remembered she was still in her First Order uniform. "I need change back into my other clothes."_ _

__"No problem." They walked together back to the portal to the cave. Her other set of clothes was sitting right beside it where she had left them. Ben ducked into the cave and Rey quickly changed. After calling him back, he helped her carefully take off her facial disguise. Then she lay down and rested her head on the folded First Order uniform._ _

__"I hope I don't drool on this," she quipped sleepily._ _

__Ben sat down behind her and stroked her hair as she dropped off to sleep. "No matter what, you're beautiful to me."_ _


	12. Bittersweet

When Rey awoke, Ben told her that they were going back in time to the Imperial era, so Rey was going to have to be aware of that, as well as exchange some currency for Imperial credits. She protested when Ben said she'd have to leave behind her weapons, including her sabers, but she finally relented when he assured her she shouldn't need them. She left behind the First Order communicator and anything she didn't need to carry around in the bag, which she had flipped around to hide the First Order insignia from view, just as she had on Chandrila. Rey's curiosity was piqued, but Ben wouldn't say anything as they walked much farther down the row of portals than they had yet been.

Finally they stopped in front of one, and Ben turned to look at her. "Like in Chandrila, we're going to emerge among some trees. I'll make sure the way is clear, then let you know to come out. Ready?”

"Yes." They opened their bond and stepped through the portal. A cool breeze blew through some trees and a lush green setting surrounded them. The sounds of many ships could be heard nearby—landing, taking off, starting their engines, flying overhead. Ben left the area, and after a few minutes he returned and motioned for Rey to follow him. 

She emerged from the trees onto the edge of a spaceport. _"Welcome to Alderaan,"_ Ben announced.

_“Alderaan?"_ Rey was blown away. She looked all around her at the gleaming cityscape to her right and the beautiful mountain vistas that swept across the horizon. _"It's beautiful!"_

_"We're near the capital spaceport in Aldera because it provides some tree cover, but also because there's a currency exchange station here. You'll need to get some Imperial credits to spend at the street vendors' kiosks."_

_"Street vendors?"_

Ben smiled as if he had a big, delightful secret. _"Oh yes. It's a planetary holiday today, and we're going to celebrate it in downtown Aldera. Follow me."_

Ben led Rey to the currency exchange station, and Rey exchanged some peggats for the amount of Imperial credits that Ben suggested. Then he led her to a metro train station, where they would board a mag lev bullet train that would take them into the heart of Aldera. Once Rey had purchased her one-day train pass, she was sent through a security line. Ben explained that this wasn't the only security line she'd go through, which was the reason she couldn't bring any weapons. Once they boarded the train, Ben began to converse with her again. It was funny seeing him sit in the same seat as the child next to her, but the train was so full that he would be obscured by someone no matter what.

_"I know you're going to want to remember this forever, since Alderaan is gone, but of course you cannot record any images on your communicator. We can't leave the slightest trace of our time travel behind. So I want to teach you how to use the Force to make photographic memories."_

_"I already know how to use the Force to enhance my memory."_

_"I know, but can you remember things so well that it's like watching a recording or looking at a hologram, with all their details?"_

_"No...I guess not that well."_

_"It's how I was able to get the passcode for you on Starkiller Base. The weapons commander typed in his passcode so fast that there would have been no way I could recall it without looking at it again in my mind in very slow motion."_

Ben proceeded to give her a lesson, and she practiced all the way to the city center, getting better and better each time.

_"Thank you so much, Ben! This is such a useful skill."_ she sighed. _"There's so much I still don't know."_

_"I can teach you the ways of the Force."_

_"I remember when you said that to me before."_

Ben looked away. _"That person is gone."_

She gave him a small smile. _"I know. Someone much better is here now, and he's  
A great teacher."_

Soon the train pulled up to the downtown depot, and Rey disembarked with all the other people. She had been so absorbed in learning the photographic memory trick that she'd forgotten ask Ben what Alderaan was celebrating.

_"What are the festivities all about?"_ she inquired. 

_"The Queen's birthday. It's an annual holiday the whole planet celebrates. There will be all sorts of vendors—food, art, souvenirs—and street performers of all kinds."_

_"I'm starving—do you know what food is the best?"_

_"Absolutely. My mother treasured her Alderaanian heritage and always made sure there was plenty of Alderaanian food served wherever she was."_

Ben recommended delicacies both sweet and savory, and Rey agreed that everything she tried based on his recommendation was delectable. She also couldn't resist buying some souvenirs—small but beautiful items like a bracelet and a carved wooden trinket box that only she and Ben would know were really from Alderaan and not copies.

There were many talented artists displaying their sketches, paintings, and sculptures. Rey's eye was caught by one artist in particular who specialized in painting the royal family. She gravitated to a small but detailed likeness of the family waving from a balcony, Bail holding what looked to be an approximately three-year-old girl with dark pretty hair and shining eyes.

"Do you like it?" the artist asked. "It's the royal family on the Queen's birthday last year. What a beautiful girl our little Princess Leia is!"

"She is very beautiful, and your painting is exquisite."

The artist beamed with pride. "Only twenty credits and you can take it home."

Twenty credits...Rey was running low on money. If she was going to eat again, she couldn't spend much more. Still, this beautiful painting called to her, and she could feel through the bond that Ben loved it, too. Oh, what the heck...she could eat later, but she would not be back to Alderaan. She handed the woman a credit chip.

"Thank you, my dear. I hope it reminds you of this happy day for many years to come." The artist rolled up the small painting and placed it in a plastic tube for protection.

"Thank you, it will."

As soon as they had left the woman's booth, Ben spoke. _"We need to make our way down to the capitol building plaza. The parade will be starting soon."_

_"A parade!"_ Rey's excitement increased. _"Ben, do you know I've never spent a day just doing fun things in my entire life?"_

Ben realized with sadness that it was true. And for over a year, it had been true thanks to him. _"I'm sorry,"_ he murmured, not just as an apology for his part in it, but also in sympathy for all she'd endured. She gave him a little smile.

Ben pointed off in the distance. _"The parade's coming."_

Rey beamed with delight as she watched the parade go by, and she used the Force to forge photographic memories—as she had been doing all day—of the bands, equine corps, regiments of guardsmen, dancers, flower carriers, jesters, and more as they passed by.

At last the parade neared its end, and she heard shouts coming down the thoroughfare, "Long live the Queen! Long live the Viceroy! Long live the Princess!" She saw a floating carriage being pulled by four equine animals, and in the carriage sat Queen Breha Organa, Senator Bail Organa, and little Leia, who looked to be about four years old, dressed in the traditional formal color for an Alderaanian crown princess—white. Her hair was arranged in curls interspersed with flowers. She was the most beautiful little girl Rey had ever seen.

_"Ben—your mom—"_ Rey was too emotional to continue, but she knew with their bond open, she didn't really have to speak. Ben knew what was in her heart.

_"I know."_

Rey moved with the river of people down to the palace grounds. It was tradition for the royal family to gather on the balcony and wave to the people as sentinel ships flew over in salute. 

Before long, the royal band played the Alderaanian anthem, and countless thousands of people sang with fervor. At the end of the anthem, the royal family and their noble relatives appeared on the balcony and waved as the crowds exploded in cheers. Rey couldn't help but be swept up in the celebratory atmosphere, and she cheered along with them. She had a flashback to their visit to Chandrila. It was all so alike. 

Soon the royal band began to play a concert, and once the stars came out, the people were treated to a spectacular fireworks display.

As Rey walked back towards the metro train depot, she relived what had been the most enjoyable day of her life. Using up her last few credits, she bought a small fruit pie from a vendor outside the station who had stayed out late in the hopes of obtaining business from the returning crowds

All the way back to the spaceport, Rey was lost in thought. As she walked with Ben back through the grounds, she finally spoke her thoughts to him. _"Ben, our grandfathers were responsible for destroying this place. Everything and everyone. Forever. It's too awful even to think about. I've had the most wonderful day of my life, but instead of being happy, I'm completely heartbroken."_

She turned to face him. _"Ben...we saved the Hosnian system. Can't we...save Alderaan?"_

Ben forgot for a moment that he wouldn't be able to touch her and tried to sweep some hair out of her face. He dropped his hand. _"You have a tender and loving heart, and it's one of the things that makes you so precious to me. But wasn't it you who asked me if it was right to wipe out of existence people who were only born because of the attack on Hosnian? Think of how 35 years has changed things. Yet, even that might not be enough to convince me not to save this precious place and all the people here, including my adopted grandparents, who I never knew, but... we can't. It would change things so much that likely, I would never be born. There are some things we just can't fix."_

_"Can't we try to save something though? Can we save Queen Breha and Bail?"_

_"Even just saving them might change too much. It I'd had my grandparents in my life, my story might have gone in an entirely different direction."_

Tears were falling down Rey's cheeks in rivulets and she was finding it hard to speak. _"Ben, I just want...to save...everyone."_

_"I know. I had to make my peace with that awhile ago, when I realized I couldn't save everyone I'd hurt or killed. Now I just channel my determination into saving those I can save. Like my dad."_

Rey nodded. _"I want to stay here for a long, long time. Explore a planet I'll never see again. Find a way to save something. But I know it's impossible. We've kept our bond open for longer than ever before, and it's getting difficult to keep open. I'm out of money, and the food I ate won't last long."_ She sighed. _"It's so hard to leave."_

Rey picked a lone red wildflower growing in the grass and collected a couple of different leaves that were laying on the ground. _"They'll dry out, but I'll always know where they came from."_

She began to stow the items in her bag, but suddenly hesiatated. _"What if someone finds these someday?"_

_"If anyone does, they'll just think they came from specimens that were sent out to other worlds in the Republic's bio-exchange program."_

Rey placed the leaves and flower carefully in her bag and took one last lingering look around her, memorizing everything. _"It's time."_

Rey and Ben made their way to and through the portal and back into the World Between Worlds, where they dropped their bond. As they walked hand-in-hand back to where Rey had left her other things, they discussed Ben's strategy for saving Han.

"Ben, it seems like a long shot that this will work, although I really hope I'm wrong. But even if it does work, mightn't it change your path back to the light? You were haunted by the fact that you killed your father. When I called you a monster, you agreed with me. If Han doesn't die, will your conscience be bothered enough to turn back to the light?"

"I think so. I'll still be bothered by the fact that I tried to kill him. But that's not the only thing that will bother me. I believed my mother died when the bridge of her ship was blown apart, and though I didn't pull the trigger myself, a pilot under my command did, because I was trying to destroy the Resistance. I later sensed her when the _Falcon_ left Crait, but the fact that she almost died still shook me up. Then Luke died trying to reach me—and save the Resistance from me. In my rage that day, I also tried to destroy the _Falcon_ , even though I knew there was a good chance Chewie was piloting the ship. 

"When you and I were connected by the Force as you were leaving, I realized you were on the _Falcon_ too. At first I was too mad at you for rejecting me to care, but when I calmed down, I realized you'd almost been killed by my order. I was also haunted by the fact that I killed my fellow Padawan Voe, murdered Lor San Tekka, and had the Jakku village put to death for no reason—and plenty of other things. I was haunted originally by the destruction of the Hosnian system, and even after we changed history, my conscience was still bothered by the fact that we intended to and almost did. The final straw was when I realized my mother, too, was willing to die to reach me and show me she loved me, and always had. In other words, I had plenty to be tortured about.

"Even beyond that, though, it wasn't just that the darkness bothered me more and more the more I tried to hang onto it, it's that I saw the light—mostly in you, but also in my parents and Luke. I tried to ignore and fight the call of the light, and I wouldn't admit it to myself—until you healed me. Even if my father's alive, the light will still call to me."

Ben's expression suddenly changed and he looked straight at Rey. "But if my mom is reunited with my dad, will she be willing to give up the last of her life's energy to try to reach me?"

Rey put her hand on one of his arms. "Ben, when your mom was blasted out into space, she survived by the power of the Force. But she still sustained a lot of damage, lasting damage. When she reached out to you, she didn't have much life left, and she knew it."

Ben looked down, his misery clear. "I've been concentrating so much on saving my father because I murdered him personally. And I didn't really think I could save my mother. But can I? If she wasn't on the bridge and didn't get sucked into space, she would have had enough strength to reach out to me without dying."

Rey shook her head sadly. "I don't think you can save her. You could tell her to stay off the bridge of the _Raddus_ too, but then Admiral Holdo wouldn't have been put in charge. And if she hadn't been in charge, there's a good chance that her sacrifice that destroyed the First Order fleet following us would not have happened."

Another thought seemed to occur to him. "Rey, can't we just destroy the hyperspace tracker on the _Supremacy_? It would save Luke too! It would save everyone who died after the First Order caught up with the Resistance."

"We've already changed things drastically by saving the Hosnian system. I'm not sure that destroying the hyperspace tracker wouldn't change things too much. And...I think your confrontation with Luke ate at your soul. If we save your father and Luke, and your meeting with him on Crait didn't occur..." Rey trailed off, letting him fill in his own blanks.

Ben was silent. "If it helps you any," Rey began, "He died at peace. After years of feeling like a failure who needed to exile himself and cut himself off from the Force, he died knowing he saved the Resistance. And he got his chance to apologize to you—something he'd been wanting to do for a long time." She took a deep breath. "You just told me on Alderaan that we couldn't save everyone and everything. Now it's my turn to tell you the same."

Ben nodded. Without speaking, he took her hand again and led them down a row of portals until he stopped in front of one. "Here it is. D'Qar, just before my father left with the Resistance to destroy Starkiller Base.”


	13. Instructions

Rey put down her bag and straightened her clothes. This was going to be a very short incursion into the real world, but she was as nervous as when she'd been about to enter Starkiller Base. Not because her life was in danger or she'd be caught, but because she was worried she wouldn't be able to convince Leia to relay her message to Han, or that if she did, Han would not follow Leia's instructions. Or that if both of them did what they were supposed to, Kylo would make different choices than the ones Ben assumed his younger self would. So much of this particular rescue mission depended on others.

Rey practiced her speech in front of Ben several times. Before going in, Ben embraced her. "Whatever happens, thank you."

They opened their bond with one another and they stepped inside the portal, but only one step. They saw Leia nearby at the edge of the landing area.

"Leia." Rey called softly but clearly, using the Force to direct her voice to Leia's ears only. It wouldn't do to have others observe Rey's presence. 

Leia turned and looked around for the voice, a confused look on her face. "Who are you?"

"General, I'm Rey, the girl who arrived on Takodana in the _Falcon_ with Han, the droid, and the map to Luke. The one your son abducted. I'm contacting you through the Force, because I've been having strong visions while I've been captive on Starkiller Base, visions about your husband and your son, and I need to give you a vital message."

"Visions? What kind of visions?" Leia asked.

"I've seen the future through the Force. You must listen to me carefully. When Han goes to Starkiller Base, he needs to take one more person along. This is because he and Chewie _must not_ split up. They need to stay together. Han will see Ben. At that point, Chewie must retreat into the shadows where Ben does not see him. Tell Han that when he talks to Ben, he _must not_ go out on the bridge to meet him, or let Ben bring his lightsaber close. And if Han should return, when you leave in the _Raddus_ , under no circumstances should he go to the bridge."

"You're saying I should send one more man along, and I need to tell Chewie and Han not to split up. When Han sees Ben, Chewie must retreat, and when Han speaks to Ben, he must not go out on the bridge, and he must not let Ben bring his lightsaber close. And I must tell Han to stay off the bridge of the _Raddus_ when we leave."

"Yes. I know you have never even met me, and what I'm saying sounds crazy. You have no idea what I'm talking about or even if I'm making all this up, but I'm begging you to trust me. It's not only for your own good and Han's, it's for your son's sake too. There is still good in him, I know it."

"Still good in him..." Leia murmured. "It hurts too much to hope anymore. But I sense you are telling me the truth."

"Hold onto your hope. And one more thing, just as important as my other instructions. I cannot explain why, but neither you nor Han must ever speak of this vision to me in the future."

"Never?"

"No. You are wise, General. I trust you. May the Force be with you. I will see you soon."

Leia nodded, and Rey took a step back through the portal, disappearing from Leia's sight.

Both Rey and Ben dropped the bond and paused, trying to sort through their memories as quickly as they could in order to determine if anything had changed.

"I'm not sure what's real and what's just my imagination reliving what we hoped would happen," Rey exclaimed, frustrated.

"My thoughts are all jumbled, too. It might be better to go watch." Ben grabbed her hand and ran to a nearby portal. 

"This is it. You can go through and hide in the shadows. If anyone sees you, just step back through the portal. But everyone's attention will likely be on my father and me." 

Rey nodded. They opened their bond and walked through the portal. Rey could see Kylo on the bridge across the chasm. 

"Ben!" Rey heard Han call.

"Han Solo. I've been waiting for this day for a long time."

Han took a few steps towards Kylo, then hesitated. He stayed where he was. "Take off that mask. You don't need it."

So Leia had listened to Rey, and Han had listened to Leia. Before, he had gone out on the catwalk to meet Kylo. Rey could feel Ben's anxiety spiking through the bond. She tried to calm him, but she herself was too nervous to do much.

"What do you think you'll see if I do?" Kylo called.

"The face of my son!"

Kylo walked closer to Han, then took his mask off. He continued walking towards Han. "Your son—he's gone. He was weak and foolish, like his father. So I destroyed him."

"That's what Snoke wants to you believe. But it's not true." Han looked as if he really wanted to walk out on the bridge towards his son, but he stood his ground. As if drawn by a magnet, Kylo kept coming closer. "My son is alive."

"No. The Supreme Leader is wise."

"Snoke is using you for your power." Like a child who couldn't resist taking the bait of a sibling's taunting, Kylo stalked closer as Han held his ground. "When he gets what he wants, he'll crush you. You know it's true."

Kylo was now twenty feet from his father. "It's too late."

"No, it's not. Leave here with me. Come home." They stared at each other. "We miss you," Han pleaded. "Put down your lightsaber, leave this life, and come with me."

Rey and Ben both tensed with anticipation. Han was following Rey's instructions! Would Kylo do it?

Kylo was silent for a long moment, then put down his saber. He walked ten feel closer. "I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain."

Ben and Rey's hope rose, but this wasn't over.

"I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?"

Han did take a step forward then, unthinking, but he still wasn't over the bridge. That was fortunate; Ben had told Rey that even if Kylo put down his lightsaber, if Han was still on the bridge, his younger self would simply push him over to his death. But if Han was still on the side of the chasm, Ben's best guess was that his younger self would decide to force-choke Han. 

It would be touch and go even if their plans worked perfectly. Ben had considered telling Rey to give instructions that Han not to talk to Kylo at all, but if Kylo was not shot by Chewie, he would have been at his full strength and easily able to kill Finn, and probably Rey as well, when they fought in the forest.

"Yes, anything," Han offered.

Kylo dropped his mask. He looked at Han. Then all of a sudden, he reached his hand out and used the Force to choke Han, lifting him off his feet in midair. Chewie roared. Rey's younger self screamed.

"Thank you," Kylo ground out as his fingers drew together like he was squeezing something, and Han's eyes grew wider and more frantic.

Chewie took aim from the shadows and let loose a shot that grazed Kylo. Kylo grunted in pain and Han crumpled to the ground. Rey and Ben couldn't tell if Han was dead or not. Chewie began shooting at all the stormtroopers surrounding them. Rey and Finn began shooting as well; so did the other man they had brought along, whose name Rey seemed to remember was Carson. Kylo retreated across the bridge, limping and in significant pain.

Chewie slung Han's limp form over his shoulder. With great difficulty, he moved forward while also shooting at more stormtroopers. He labored up some stairs, making his way to Carson. Carson continued downing all the stormtroopers and officers he could; he was an excellent shot.

When Chewie was clear, Carson detonated the explosives. 

_"Rey, is my father alive?"_ Ben called out to her. _"I think so, but I'm not sure."_

_"I think we'd better go back through the portal,"_ Rey answered nervously. _"I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to."_ She stepped back through the portal and Ben followed. 

Rey looked at Ben. "Let's go to Crait and see. If he's there, we'll see that he's alive and followed instructions to stay off the _Raddus_ bridge."

The two of them raced down the line of portals until Ben skidded to a stop. "Here. Of course, you can't go in with me. I'll go take a closer look, and you watch through the portal."

"Agreed."

Ben stepped through the portal just as Luke entered the Resistance base. From their different vantage points, both he and Rey could see that Luke was heading over to where Leia was sitting. And beside Leia...was Han. He sat there with some kind of device around his neck and oxygen running to his nose, but he was conscious, and most of all, alive. They watched as brother and sister reunited; they listened as Luke apologized to both Han and Leia, and the twins spoke about Kylo—and hope. Luke pressed Han's dice into Leia's hands—the dice Ben used to play with as a boy. It was a reminder that Ben was still in there somewhere. 

After kissing his sister's forehead, Luke turned to Han and clasped Han's hand in both of his in a gesture of brotherly affection. "Don't think Han's giving you the cold shoulder," Leia told Luke, "but he can't speak at the moment."

"He doesn't have to," Luke replied. "It's good to see you, my old friend."

Han nodded, his eyes saying the same.

As Luke headed out through the breach in the base door, Ben stepped back through the portal. Rey saw the tears streaming down Ben's face—tears of relief and overwhelming emotion. Rey embraced him and held him tight, letting him cry as long as he wished.

Finally, Ben spoke. "Thank you, Rey. Your help means more than I could ever say. I couldn't have saved him without you."

Rey smiled through her own tears. "I am happy I could play a part in bringing your dad back to life."

Ben looked off into the distance. "I mentioned to you before that I saw a vision of my father on Kef Bir. I think my mother was behind it, prompting me through the Force to see it. As I remember it now, though, it wasn't my father. It was my mother. She told me the same things he did, though. She told me her son was alive, and that I had the strength to do what was right, even though she would be gone now. And she told me..." He choked up. "That she loved me. And I knew it was true; had always been true."

"It was. She never stopped loving you. I can attest to that." 

"I'm glad I could give her one more year with dad."

"Despite the war, that made her happy."

"Thank goodness." Ben was silent for a few moments. "Now, Rey, where do you want to go?"

"Pasaana. I want to go and truly enjoy their beautiful festival. And I want another necklace."

Ben winced at the reference to the necklace. "All right, no problem. We're going back in time though, during the age of the Republic, when there will be no Imperial or First Order agents and no one looking for you."

"They hold the festival every 42 years, so I guess we're going back 84 years." Rey beamed and grabbed Ben's hand. "Let's go!”


	14. Heist

Poe Dameron looked at Zorii Bliss. Zorii was stunning, and he was thankful all over again that she'd ditched her smuggler's helmet when she threw her lot in with Resistance. The news she brought him was just as stunning.

"You're sure?"

Zorii nodded. "My contact put a homing beacon on a cargo ship he was suspicious about. Turns out, it was supplying the _Derriphan_. They're hiding out in the Unknown Regions. You know the First Order has bases of operations there, but this was a new one we didn't know about." She put a small data chip on the table in front of him. "Here are the coordinates."

Poe slapped the table in exuberance. "Yes! We've got them. Have I ever told you I love you?"

"A long time ago. Don't get presumptuous."

"Fine. But I do." He threw her a devil-may-care look. 

She stared him down. "You left me."

"It wasn't because of you. Leaving you was actually my only regret. It was because I woke up from my rebellious stupor one day, finally realizing spice running wasn't helping the galaxy and that I was being a selfish prat."

She stiffened; Poe continued. "Don't get your knickers in a twist, sweetheart, the only person I'm judging is myself. I know you tried to help people with your cuts from the runs."

She snorted. "How can I lay claim to helping people when I destroyed other people's lives to do it?"

Poe listened silently.

"I thought it was exciting, and I loved adrenaline. I loved the money, too. I just gave some of it away to soothe my conscience."

Zorii shifted her stance and looked at Poe thoughtfully. "You've changed."

"Is that so surprising? I left the spice runners' gang, after all."

"That's not it. You're a leader now, not just a hotshot. You were such a good pilot, I figured you'd have an outsized ego wherever you went. And you were so doggedly after me then. You still flirt with me now, but you give me space."

Poe looked serious. "I was that hotshot idiot up until a little over a year ago, I'm ashamed to say. I was the best pilot in the Resistance and it did go to my head. I thought I had all the answers, especially after we destroyed Starkiller Base. I disobeyed General Leia's orders to break off an attack on a dreadnaught, and even though we did destroy it, we lost our whole bomber squadron, including Rose's sister, Paige. 

"Not long after, when Leia was incapacitated, I chafed under Admiral Holdo's command, still convinced I was the smartest person in the Resistance. If Han Solo hadn't convinced Holdo that Finn, Rose, and I had a worthwhile plan to disable the First Order's hyperspace tracker and that desperate times called for desperate measures, I know that I would have mutinied and helped Finn and Rose get away anyway. As it was, the outcome was still a disaster thanks to the codebreaker's betrayal, but at least it was all on him. It hit me hard that I almost had all those deaths on my conscience, too. I still feel bad enough about it, even though none of us could have known how badly the plan would fail. It turned out Holdo's plan was better after all.

"After all that they still made me a leader, but I don't deserve it. I try to be a little more sober-minded these days."

Zorii considered him for a few more seconds. "You are a leader now, Dameron."

"Yeah, well, now I have to figure out how to destroy the _Derriphan_. The existence of entire planets is literally on the line. I need to talk to Han, Chewbacca, Commander D'Acy, and General Ematt."

"I'll go rustle them up." Zorii turned and left.

Poe rubbed his face as he took a deep breath and contemplated the situation. When he moved his hands away, he jumped back and almost called out in fright, for there stood Rey.

"Rey! Where did you come from?"

"The World Between Worlds, remember?"

"Well then, I guess you made it in."

"Yes. In fact, full disclosure—Ben is here with me. He doesn't have a body; that's why you can't see him."

Poe looked incredulous. "Are you serious?" he asked in a "you've gotta be joking" tone of voice.

"Very. We're ready to go after the _Derriphan_ if you know where it is." Of course, they knew where they were going to infiltrate the _Derriphan_ —Kijimi—but Poe was never going to know that. They had to pretend to save the galaxy from the _Derriphan_ in the present day if Ben was going to get any credit for it—which they hoped would help save him from execution.

"Zorii was just here giving me intel. One of her contacts has found it." He held up the data chip. "The coordinates are on here." He stuck the chip in his computer, copied the coordinates, and brought up a galactic map. Once he placed the coordinates in the search, the map zoomed in on a world in the Unknown Regions.

"Here it is."

Rey was silent for a moment, seemingly listening to something, then spoke. "Ben just told me he knows all about that base." Poe moved to interrupt her, but she forestalled him. "It's our bond. He can speak into my mind. Just go with it. Anyway, when you strategize with your group, try to come up with a plan in which you capture the _Derriphan_ intact, not destroy it."

"Not destroy it?"

"No. I'll tell you more later. For now, just prepare me a report on the status of the survey of Exegol that I can look at next time."

"All right. I need to warn you, Han, Chewie, D'Acy, and Ematt are on their way and will be here any second."

"The four of them will have to know about the World Between Worlds," Rey told him, "or none of this will make sense to them. They also need to know about what Ben and I are doing, and they'll need to come up with a way to explain it to the fleet that doesn't give away the truth." She was thoughtful for a moment. "And it would be better for Han to learn about Ben now, rather than being shocked by it later when his head needs to be in the game."

"Zorii? She's fetching them."

Rey chewed her lip. "Do you trust her? This can't get out into the underworld." She fixed a serious gaze on him.

As the sounds of approaching people reached their ears, Poe met her gaze. "Yes."

Rey nodded. "All right then, I'll trust you."

Zorii walked in with Han, Chewie, D'Acy, and Ematt. "I briefed them on the way—" she spotted Rey. "Rey? I thought you were out on a mission."

They all looked in her direction. "Yes, and I still am," she replied. "You'd better have a seat—I've got a lot of explaining to do."

Rey described to them what was happening. She kept her gaze mostly on Han, wondering how he'd react to what she had to say. He stood up and looked directly into her face. "Ben's alive?"

"In a manner of speaking. Just a moment." She held up her hand while listening to Ben. "Han, Ben says he loves you and he's sorry for all the heartbreak he caused you and the galaxy. He's sorry he tried to kill you, and—" she looked over at Chewbacca "—he thanks Chewie for shooting him. He says he deserved it, and it saved many people's lives."

"How do I know you're not just saying that?" Han pressed.

"Why would I lie to you or give you false hope? Ben says—" she paused to listen to him again, "—remember that time no one else knows about when Ben was a kid, when you and Chewie decided to slip past Leia and go out hunting glowing blue butterflies that produced crystal dust, and he snuck aboard the Falcon and joined you?"

Tears sprang to Han's eyes and Chewie rumbled his affirmative. "Yep, that's Ben all right." He looked back at the group. "She's telling the truth."

The members of the small leadership team murmured among themselves, until Rey began to speak again. "Ben and I have a plan for ending the First Order and the Sith. Here's what we need you to do."

~~~~~

Back in the World Between Worlds, Rey and Ben prepared for their excursion onto the _Derriphan_. Since this was a Final Order ship, they had no way of knowing what security measures were in place and no codes or viruses to help them. They would not be able to access the computer systems themselves, so they were going to have to go old school. That meant "persuading" someone to do what they wanted, much like Han and Finn had done to Phasma on Starkiller Base. They would try a Jedi mind trick first, then Rey would use a blaster if the mind trick didn't work.

But they couldn't march onto the bridge and do this, so they were going to sever connections between the bridge and the laser bay so that authority to fire would have to be transferred down to the laser bay.

Once the coordinates had been re-programmed, they would order their captive to fire. After the Star Destroyer had blasted a small rocky planet elsewhere in the Kijimi system, they would steal the crystal array. As with their incursion into Starkiller Base, there was no margin for error; everything had to fall into place.

Rey went through the process of changing into her First Order uniform again, complete with facial disguise. First Order wasn't Final Order, but it would be close enough to pass from a distance and not stick out like a sore thumb.

Before Rey even joined him in the World Between Worlds, Ben had scouted out the _Derriphan_ in order to concoct his plan. Since the superlaser used kyber crystals, it worked a bit like a gigantic modified lightsaber. The Sith Eternal scientists had somehow managed to magnify the power of the laser so much that one small enough to fit in the bowels of a Star Destroyer could obliterate a planet. There was a heavily shielded observation room adjacent to the laser, and Ben had already determined that the laser could be controlled from this room.

Ben and Rey would actually have to go through different portals this time. Rey needed to enter the corridor to the observation room, which she would do by entering an elevator through the portal. They needed to be able to carry the crystal array out, though, so Ben would open a portal directly into the room that contained the laser. That was the one they would exit.

Ben and Rey took deep breaths and opened their bond. They sent encouragement to each other, then stepped through their respective portals. Because they were bonded, they could still see each other and talk to each other. They could also work together, and as soon as Rey entered the empty elevator and pressed the button for the appropriate floor, she and Ben began the process of using the Force to find the appropriate communications wires to cut. The computer hubs were wired together because wires were more reliable than wireless communications. However, they would need to damage the wireless receiver in the observation room computer as well, or the Final Order data techs would simply institute wireless screen sharing.

Rey gave Ben the signal that her elevator had almost reached the bottom, so it was time to begin severing wires. Together they created large destructive sparks in the important data transmission lines. Chaos would ensue momentarily.

Stepping out of the elevator, Rey adjusted her uniform and marched down the hall to the observation room. Before going in, she asked Ben to join his power with hers in order to scan the microscopic circuits and fry only the right one. Becoming able to sense something so small and perform such a delicate operation required a great deal of concentration and power in the Force, but together they easily honed in on the wireless transmission circuitry and executed their precise destruction.

Rey did not have an ID chip, of course, so she knocked on the door and watched as the sharp-faced middle-aged officer jerked around. He pressed an intercom button.

"Who are you?"

"First Order lieutenant Vonna Talen. I've been ordered to observe your operations over Kijimi."

"Do you have an ID chip?"

Rey panicked momentarily. She had not bothered to obtain a new identity before this mission. She had her old Taryss Dru chip, but if the man checked her chip, he would find no entry, and Rey's mission would be over right now.

Ben sensed her panic and sent her a message. _"Do a test run of the Jedi mind trick. Convince him he doesn't need to see it."_

Rey put all the Force-enhanced authority she could in her voice, while waving her hand and making it look like a dismissive gesture. "I have an ID chip, but I won't be in your database anyway, since I'm from the First Order. You don't need to see it."

"You're right, I don't need to see it."

The man opened the door and Rey felt a flood of relief as she stepped inside. Ben sent her a silent compliment. 

The officer's comm station was buzzing. he answered it, and Rey enhanced her hearing to make sure she picked up all the words. "We're supposed to attack Kijimi momentarily, but our communications can't get through! We don't know what has happened, but we can't connect with the laser firing systems either by wired or wireless communications. You will need to execute the commands yourself. I will send an authorization code to your communicator. Let me know when you're in!"

"Yes, sir!" the man said loudly. He looked at his communicator in order to obtain the code and brought up the laser firing mechanism. Rey realized then that of course he wouldn't access the guidance systems before firing, they were already set!

_"Ben! Help me with the mind trick! I need the most powerful one we can muster!"_

_"On it!"_ Ben joined his concentration with Rey's, and she directed the influence towards the man. He probably wasn't a "weak-minded" person at all, and may simply have been convinced by Rey's logic before, not the mind trick. She hoped against hope this would work.

"You need to access the guidance systems first to make sure the coordinates are still right, Don't you?" Rey asked the officer.

A look of confusion passed over the man's face, but then he said, "Yes, of course. I can't believe I almost forgot that." He brought up the targeting system and looked at it. "As you can see, the coordinates are set for Kijimi."

Rey continued to project confidence. "Aren't they supposed to be set for KS1365-05, the small rocky planet beyond Kijimi? The commander decided to fire a warning shot first, if you'll remember." With Ben's help, Rey sent a false memory to the man using the voice he had heard through the comms system minutes ago.

The officer looked confused again, but then responded slowly, "Right...that's right...I remember now. Bringing up new coordinates." The man began selecting the new coordinates. 

Just as the officer finished entering the coordinates, his comms station buzzed again. At first Rey felt a stab of alarm at the possibility that they may have detected the change in coordinates, but then she remembered the connections were cut.

The man's voice barked through the speaker. "Are you in yet, lieutenant? Are you ready to fire?"

"Yes, sir!" he said proudly. "I will be firing momentarily."

The man entered the security code again and gave the command to fire the weapon.

_"Sleepy time,"_ Rey thought, and drawing on the bond, they forced the man into unconsciousness. He slumped in his chair as an incredible brightness lit up the observation room window. The weapon had fired, but in just seconds, the commanders would realize it had not hit the right target and things would get crazy. She had to act fast. 

Dashing forward, Rey put her hand on the controls to the door that led to the corridor and fried them. It would buy her a little time. Rey then grabbed the man's ID chip and stuck it in the door for access to the weapon room. It asked for a fingerprint and DNA scan, so Rey hoisted the man's body over to the door and pressed his hand onto the scanner. During the scan, Rey heard the comms station buzz. When no one answered, someone would come down here awfully fast. In fact, she was certain that red Sith troopers were on their way already.

After seconds that felt like eternity, the door opened, just as Rey heard noise in the corridor. She slipped through the door, pushed it shut, and fried its circuits too. She then turned around and was faced with the enormity of the superlaser and its crystal array. It was huge.

Ben spoke confidently to Rey's mind. _"I know what you're thinking, but if you and I could use the Force to fight over a transport ship blasting into the atmosphere, imagine what we can do working together. We've got this!"_

_"But we're in the past, changing major events! We don't have the same level of power!"_

_"Don't think that way, Rey! Remember how you felt when you thought Chewie was on that transport. Use that determination now. I'm with you. Together we can absolutely do this!"_

Ben felt a wave of resolve from Rey. She reached out her hand towards the array, and so did he. They poured all their strength into wrenching the array from its moorings. The sounds of Sith troopers trying to blast through doors barely registered, so complete was their concentration. Bolts popped out of place and twisting metal screeched as they pulled the array loose. Finally, they had it, floating between them.

_"Through the portal!"_ Ben commanded. With intense effort, they levitated the array towards the portal. The portal was much smaller than the array, but Ben was sure it would go through; the World Between Worlds didn't play by the laws of material physics.

Suddenly they heard a deafening blast. The Sith troopers were through the second door! _"Ben, I have to run to the other side so the array shields me!"_ Trying not to slacken her contribution to keeping the array afloat, she sprinted towards the other side as Sith troopers began shooting at her. Ben was having none of that, though. He dug even deeper, though he hadn't thought that was possible, and sent just enough Force energy towards the blaster bolts to skew them to the side, and none connected with Rey as she rounded the array.

The two of them continued to work with all their might to direct the array towards the portal as the Sith troopers kept shooting. As Ben had predicted, the portal enlarged to swallow up the crystal array. Rey stepped through first, followed by the array and then Ben. It must have been an incredible sight for the Final Order soldiers to see the enormous array wink out of existence.

Exhausted, Rey and Ben dropped the crystal and their bond, and then they each bent over, placing their hands on their thighs, catching their breath after the exertion.

Eventually, as they recovered, Rey began to laugh. Ben joined in. It was a joyous laugh born of triumph, euphoria, and adrenaline. Rey once again jumped into Ben's arms, ecstatic at what they had accomplished together. After a good long kiss and embrace, they looked at the kyber crystal array.

"Well, now there won't be any shortage of kyber crystal available for your future Padawans' use when they need to construct lightsabers," Ben observed.

Rey looked over at Ben. "Not my Padawans, _our_ Padawans. You'll be there with me."

He looked back. "No one will want to learn from me. Your Jedi academy won't have any students."

"If they are worthy of becoming Jedi, they will have to understand and practice forgiveness. But that's not all. Releasing one's bitterness through forgiveness doesn't always mean that the person who wronged you is sorry. There are times when you forgive but don't trust. They will have to learn about whom to trust, and about using the Force to give them insight into a person's character. If they do that, they'll know you've changed."

He stared at her another few moments, wanting her to be right, but skeptical. "We'll see."

Rey didn't push. "Well, can we get this thing to Ahch-To, or are we too exhausted?"

"I think it should be easier to move it here. There's nothing here but the Force. Let's try." They reconnected their bond and began to lift the array. It was surprisingly easy.

"Woah, you're right!" Rey exclaimed excitedly.

Together they levitated the crystal array to a portal that led to a deserted island on present-day Ahch-To. Stepping through the portal, they deposited the array in a sheltered area and went right back through.

Rey dusted her hands together several times in a gesture that said "our work here is done." But of course, not all their tasks were done. The hyperspace trackers remained an immense problem for the Republic. "I'm just going to sit down here and eat some rations," she told him. Her facial disguise was starting it itch, but there was no sense taking it off when she'd just have to put it back on again for the next mission. Plus, she was running out of adhesive.

Rey patted the space next to her. "Come sit down and let's plan what to do about the hyperspace trackers." Ben sat down as she rummaged through her bag for the rations. She took everything out, intending to rearrange it all, for it had become rather a mess after everything that had happened.

Ben picked up her sabers. He fitted them together to make the staff and turned it around in his hands. "A yellow staff saber. Just like Bastila Shan. How fitting."

"Who is Bastila Shan?" Rey asked. 

"I forget you haven't had a chance to learn all the Jedi history yet," Ben said. "Remember when Palpatine said the dyad was unseen for generations? It has happened before. Millennia ago, back during the Old Republic, Bastila was a Jedi healer who saved a former Jedi turned Sith Lord, Darth Revan, when he was gravely injured and about to be killed by the Jedi. It formed a bond between them, like yours and mine. Revan was taken by the Jedi, who had his mind wiped. He and Bastila worked together, and eventually fell in love. When Bastila was taken prisoner by Revan's former apprentice, Darth Malek, and tortured until she fell to the dark side, it was Revan and their love that saved her."

Rey looked at Ben with an amazed expression. "The Force always raises up someone to push back the darkness."

"Yes. And now the two of us need to finish the task." Ben handed back the saber and Rey took the two halves apart, stowing them in her sack, along with everything else she'd re-packed. As soon as she finished her rations, they would need to be on their way again.


	15. Schematics

Rey stepped through a portal into the room Poe was using as an office, adjacent to his quarters on a Corellian corvette. Most of the Resistance had simply been living on ships on Ajan Kloss's surface, particularly the _Tantive IV_. With a start, Rey realized this was the _Tantive IV_! But how? It had been destroyed in the Battle of Exegol, and illustrious Rebel Captain Nien Nunb had perished, along with the rest of the crew. Rey considered things for a moment and went over her friends' accounts of the space battle in her mind. It was all a tangle, because she now had two different versions from each of her friends in her head. She sat down on a cushioned chair and slowly, carefully sorted through her memories. 

She thought of what Poe had told her, what Finn had said, what Lando and Chewie had described. The picture became clear. Because they had saved the Hosnian System, the Resistance had had allies. Their band on Ajan Kloss, and their fleet, had been larger. And Lando had been able to amass an even bigger group of ships from around the galaxy, too. They had had a lot more firepower, meaning fewer of her Resistance friends had been killed. And when the Emperor shot his lightning into the sky, it had been divided among twice as many ships, weakening its effects. It had damaged, but not destroyed, an engine on the _Tantive IV_. 

Rey was overjoyed at this revelation. Captain Nunb was alive, and the Alderaanian ship which had belonged to Bail Organa and meant so much to Leia still existed. She was smiling when she pressed the chime on Poe's door. 

After a long minute, Poe's sleepy-sounding voice came through the speaker. "Rey? Is that you? You gave me a good scare for a second when I saw that uniform and an unfamiliar face on the security system screen." He huffed. "And it's so early!"

"Sorry about the disguise; I forgot for a second that it was on. Anyway, as a general, aren't you used to being woken at all hours?"

"Yes, but..." 

Rey put her hand on her hip and stared at him. "I thought I'd run into fewer people by coming now."

"All right. Never mind. What's up?"

"Do you have the report on the Exegol survey?"

Poe fished out his communicator. "Yes, I'll send it to you."

Rey pulled her own communicator out and verified the transfer. "Great. We've removed the kyber crystal array from the _Derriphan_. It can't destroy any planets, unless there's a supply of extra kyber somewhere."

"Perhaps on Exegol?"

"Perhaps. I'll read the survey as soon as I leave, but I know there are still Republic personnel there, right?"

"Yes. And there's a protective squadron in orbit above the planet."

"Better increase the protection. It just occurred to me that the _Derriphan_ might come looking for more kyber on Exegol."

"I had the same thought," Poe said grimly. "The First Order has been weakened, but they could still be trying to amass a force right now to go back to Exegol. They need a superweapon to give them new life after a seemingly mortal wound. They don't give up."

Poe brought up his communicator. "Connix. Get me Admiral Starkey on the line. I want to speak to him in fifteen minutes." Poe waited for a response. "Thanks." He tucked the communicator back into his pocket.

Rey continued. "Now, about the plan to get rid of the hyperspace trackers. Ben and I are going to grab the list of ships with trackers. We're also planning to blow up the databases containing the schematics, since Ben does indeed know where they are. We need a case of thermal detonators."

"All right." Poe used his communicator again. "Hey, yeah, Snap...bring me a case of thermal charges, will you? To my office, on the double. Yeah. Thanks."

_Snap?_ thought Rey. Snap Wexley? Snap Wexley died over Exegol...could he also have survived in this new timeline, like Nien Nunb?

"Rey?" queried Poe as he tilted his head to look at her. "Are you with me?”

“Oh, sorry. Yeah, my mind was elsewhere. All right. We're also going to grab the man who designed the tracker out of First Order custody and bring him here. Ben tells me his name is Dorlan. You need to have a place ready for him." Poe nodded. "From what Finn said before, I'm pretty sure he'll be on our side. When we deliver him, we'll deliver the list of ships. At that time, I'll need to be outfitted with the homing beacon. Ben and I will start taking out the hyperdrive trackers one by one. Whenever we enter one of the ships, my location should register and you'll know where it is. You'll be able to plan attacks on all of them, and you know that only the most important ships were installed with trackers, so you should be able to cut the head off the First Order."

Poe gave Rey's shoulder a friendly slap and shake. "I can't believe we're finally going to end this thing. Thank you, thank you, my friend."

"It's not just me. I couldn't do any of this without Ben. He's saved not only my life but countless others. I mean, what we're doing will save countless others." Rey hoped that her quick coverup of her little verb tense slip-up was convincing. "I'm determined to find a way to bring him back into the physical world, and when, not if, that happens, he needs to get as much or more credit than me. He knows he deserves the death penalty, and the only way he's going to avoid it is if he racks up some major good behavior points that convince the heads of the New Republic that he's truly changed, and that it would be better if he were allowed to live and help them than be executed."

Poe frowned, and Rey rounded on him. "I know you've got a personal grudge against Ben for the way he interrogated you after capturing you on Jakku. But I remember when we left the _Steadfast_ after rescuing Chewie! You and Finn were all full of the tale of Hux being the mole and saving your life. You thought it was great fun, and Finn even saved his life, shooting him in the leg instead of killing him. And Hux was the architect of the Hosnian genocide! Surely Ben deserves at least that much consideration?"

"All right, you got me there. But what do you mean Hosnian genocide?"

_Oops!_ Rey thought to herself. She scrambled for a way out. "Well, Starkiller Base was supposed to have wiped out the Hosnian system. It only destroyed the Chernon system because of some last-second re-programming by someone...they were never able to figure out who had done it before they base was destroyed. Ben told me that. But I forgot for a moment that you didn't know."

I did always wonder why an organization as vicious and power-hungry as the First Order didn't take out an inhabited world, like the Empire did to Alderaan. It didn't make sense."

"Now we know." Rey hesitated, listening. "Ben says he's sorry about that interrogation."

Poe blew out a breath. "Just end the First Order and we'll call it good."

Rey was silent for another moment. "Ben says he wants that as much as you."

"Good."

At that moment, the door chimed. Poe pushed Rey down behind a large chair. "It's Snap with the detonators," he whispered. "Stay out of sight."

Poe pressed the door open button. Rey chanced a careful peek around the side of the chair. She could just barely make out the figure who stood at the door with a case of thermal charges. It was Snap Wexley! Thank the Force! Her friend was alive! She quickly pulled her head back.

Snap was probing to see if he could find out what the detonators were for, but Poe deftly put him off and closed the door.

"Here you are, ma'am," he said jauntily as he handed her the case. "Well, I need to be talking to Admiral Starkey. May the Force be with you...both."

"You too." Rey smiled at him, then turned and disappeared through the portal.

"Crazy," Poe muttered as he shook his head in amazement.

~~~~~

Back in the World Between Worlds, Ben briefed Rey on the First Order facility they were going to need to infiltrate in order to rescue Dorlan and obtain the list of ships. The tracker schematics were there, too; it was all in one place at their top research & development facility, but they weren't going to blow up the data storage wing until they'd extracted Dorlan. The other set of schematics was at a data storage facility much like Scarif. After they were done at the first facility, they'd quickly hit the other one.

Snatching Dorlan and destroying the databases with the plans would be quick and easy in-and-out jobs, thanks to the fact that they could use the portals to bypass all security systems. But copying the list of ships would require getting access to First Order data storage. 

Fortunately, Starkiller Base had been destroyed before the mystery of how "Taryss Dru" had accessed their systems was solved. Rey and Ben planned to use the same code to hack in a second time. She stowed the data chip with the "all access" code on it, as well as the empty data chip which she would download the list of ships onto, into a front pocket she could access easily. Ben had never cared too much about the particulars of how First Order data was handled and stored, but his guess was that just as the control room on Starkiller Base had employed a clean room setup to prevent unauthorized incursions into their most critical systems, the data storage area also was going to require physical access.

Ben led Rey to a portal that opened up into the back of the server room where the data was stored. It was the middle of the night, but there was always someone on duty here. Fortunately, the guards would be outside the door. Ben and Rey were going to use the unconsciousness trick on the data tech in charge; it was proving to be an exceptionally handy skill. If all went well, no one would ever know they'd been there. 

After opening their bond, Rey set down the case of charges, which they wouldn't need until later. Ben stepped through the portal, and following the plan they had formulated, he caused a little static on one of the security cameras while Rey hurried through the portal and crept along as silently as she could, hiding behind rows of servers. Once she'd passed the range of one camera, Ben restored perfect reception on it and caused static on the next. They hoped that no one would come investigate if there were only a few seconds of static on the cameras. If someone did come, they would have to abort the mission and come back later. 

Approaching the front of the room where the computer terminal sat, Rey groaned inwardly when she saw that the entire front of the room was glass. The one thing she had going for her was that the guards' backs were to her.

Rey carefully put the tech into unconsciousness, then hauled him behind a row of servers and into a camera blind spot. Rey raced back and took the tech's place before telling Ben he could stop the static.

In addition to hoping tech repair would not send anyone down, they also hoped the security officer watching the cams would not notice that the officer in the chair with her back to him had a different build than the man who had been there before. They were relying on the psychological tendency of people to see what they expect to see working in their favor.

Still, as usual, Rey needed to work fast. Ben left the room on reconnaissance, hoping to give her advanced warning if someone was coming. She followed Harris's instructions about how to log out the current user, then plugged in the chip with the universal access code on it. It worked like a charm, the same as before, but it took her a little time to find the list. She inserted her empty data chip and copied the list onto the chip. All the while her nerves were on edge. She trusted Ben, but even in his current disembodied state, he couldn't be everywhere at once. 

The next action she took was one she and Ben had debated about. Should they take a copy of the hyperspace tracking schematics for themselves, or let the schematics be permanently destroyed? It would be a boon to the New Republic, but if the schematics leaked out—and eventually they would—it would change the galaxy irrevocably. Their enemies might not be able to escape, but neither could they. Still, the genie was already out of that bottle, since hyperspace tracking existed. It was bound to be developed again sometime, even if Dorlan refused to create any more schematics for anyone. 

Rey hesitated for a moment, then started searching for the file. Just as she found it, she heard Ben's voice speak into her mind. _"Someone's coming! How close are you to finished?"_

_"I'm still downloading! Can you hold them off for a few more moments?"_

_"I'll try, but don't waste a second."_

_"I won't."_

As Rey waited for the file transfer to complete, Ben threw a sound at the woman's mind. She hesitated, thinking she'd heard something strange down the hallway. She turned her head to look, but no one was there. She looked in the other direction, then continued on her way when she couldn't see anything. She hadn't stopped for long, but it had bought Rey a precious few seconds.

_"File transfer complete! I'm pulling the chip out now,"_ Ben heard Rey say, much to his relief. He headed back to join her, sending another burst of static into the security camera system.

With all possible speed, Rey stashed the data chip in her bag pocket and headed for the portal in the back of the room. She heard the soft beeps that indicated someone was going through the security protocol to unlock the door. She raced past rows of servers and was nearly to the portal when she heard someone open the door and a woman's voice call out, "Cherrik? Captain Cherrik?" Rey saw Ben's ghostly form catch up to her as she darted through the portal to safety. When the woman found Cherrik, she would likely assume he'd collapsed from a medical condition.

"Got it!" Rey announced triumphantly. 

Ben gave her a quick hug. "Nice going! Now for a fast in-and-out to grab Dorlan. This way."

Ben led Rey to an adjacent portal. "Here's Dorlan's room." Ben peered into the portal. "He appears to be asleep. Hopefully I'm right about that. Are you ready?" Rey nodded. They hadn't dropped their bond, so they quickly stepped through into Dorlan's refresher, a place where the First Order at least had the decency not to place a camera. Before Rey exited the refresher, Ben sent a pulse that popped out the main room's security camera. They were sure they'd be able to get Dorlan out before anyone could arrive to investigate, but like always, they had to move rapidly.

Rey opened the door and exited the refresher to see Dorlan stirring at the sound of the door. She immediately put him into unconsciousness and levitated him. She reveled in being able to use her full strength; after having to work so hard in the past, lifting him felt like a breeze! She could already hear footsteps coming, though. Ben heard it too, and added his strength to hers just to give her an extra boost of speed. _"Thanks,"_ Rey told him. They had Dorlan through the portal before anyone even opened his door. 

Ben and Rey carried Dorlan between them while walking back to Poe's office. All in all, they hadn't been gone long. Would Poe expect them back this soon? Before entering the portal, Rey checked to see if anyone other than Poe was there. As it turned out, Poe wasn't alone. Rey smiled as she saw Zorii standing at the door facing Poe—awfully close to him, too. Rey's smile turned into a wide grin as she watched the beautiful woman put her arms around Poe’s neck and lean up to kiss him. As he kissed her back rather ardently, she felt some embarrassment in continuing to watch, and so turned away. 

Should I kiss you and distract you until they're done?" Ben asked, with a touch of mischief in his voice. Without giving it conscious thought, they both set Dorlan down. Ben put his hand behind her back and drew her very close, wasting no time in putting his lips to hers while gently weaving his fingers through her hair.

After long blissful moments, the kiss ended, and Rey felt irritation from Ben. "If only we didn't have to deliver this guy..." Rey bit her lip and looked away on the pretense of checking the portal again. She saw Zorii walk through the door.

"They're done. Wait a minute so Poe doesn't wonder if I saw.”

Ben laughed. "As you wish." He pulled her in close again. "Might as well spend this minute as pleasantly as we did the last couple." She had no objection.

After an exceptionally delightful minute, the two of them hoisted Dorlan into the air and stepped through the portal. Poe was reading a report.

He looked up in surprise. "You two work fast."

"Well, when you can go anywhere instantly, it makes covert operations a lot easier and quicker," Rey rejoined. She lowered Dorlan's form into a nearby chair. "Here's your man. I suggest you tell him the extraction team tranquilized him to keep him quiet. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but he'll probably be more likely to buy it than if you tell him he hit his head so hard it affected his memory, considering he doesn't have a goose egg anywhere on his head."

"We could give him a goose egg." Poe smirked at her.

Rey snorted and smiled back at her friend. "You see, that's the difference between you and me," Rey jokingly chided him. "Anyway, we need to get that homing beacon attached to me. The first two places we're going are important First Order bases, so in addition to the location of the ships, you'll get the location of the bases too. We can plan assaults later."

"Excellent," Poe said as he pulled the homing beacon from a drawer. Rey attached it around her ankle. "After the bases, we're going to Rattatak to rendezvous with Lando's team. They need to be involved in the operation. When we destroy the hyperspace trackers in these ships, we're also going to destroy their hyperdrives. They won't be able to go anywhere, but I don't want the Republic simply to blow them all up unless that's unavoidable. I want Lando's team to convince them to lay down their arms."

Rey pulled the data chip out of the outer bag pocket and handed it to Poe. "The list of ships. And the hyperspace tracker schematics are also on the chip."  
Poe looked exultant. "The tide has finally turned. Thank the Force."

"Be careful. The fire that saves your life on a frigid night can burn down your house just as easily. Don't download the schematics off the chip until you have a serious discussion with the highest-ranking members of the New Republic about what to do with them."

Poe sighed. "Yes ma'am. If I've learned anything since D'Qar, it's that being impulsive doesn't always pay off."

Rey put her hand on his shoulder. "Good man."

The serious moment past, Rey did ask him to copy the list of ships and send it to her communicator, which he quickly did.

After stowing her communicator, Rey gave Poe a jaunty salute. "We're off to blow up the First Order's hyperspace tracking capabilities, General."

He brought his hand up and made a saluting motion in her general direction. "I feel like I just said it, but May the Force be with you."

“You did just say it." Rey laughed. "But it never hurts to say it again." It was good to have Poe for a friend.


	16. Destruction

The first hit on the data storage unit at the R & D base where they had just freed Dorlan went quickly. Ben stepped through the portal first and fried the security cameras. The security observation room notified the guards outside the door, who came through swiftly, but Rey deflected their blaster bolts—and those of the officer on duty, probably the woman who had called out for Cherrik earlier—with her saber and quickly dispatched them. More guards would come, but Rey didn't need much time. Already familiar with the room from having been there before, she placed the charges rapidly, dashed back to the portal, depressed the button on the detonator remote (which had been programmed for a five-second delay), stepped back through the portal, and watched the conflagration commence.

Neither Rey nor Ben expected anything different from the second hit, but when they looked through the portal, the data storage area turned out to be larger than they expected, and Rey would have to travel farther to plant the charges. The whole cavernous room and its towers of data banks had to be destroyed; if it wasn't, the schematics might survive somewhere in an undestroyed data storage module. 

As before, Ben winked out the security cameras. Rey came through, ready with one saber in her hand and the other on her belt. She placed the first two charges before being seen, but unfortunately, there was an upper level here that ringed the room around the towers, and security droids began firing from above as well as from the ground floor level as soon as they spotted her. Forgetting about the charges for the moment, Rey deflected blaster bolts from several directions while using her other hand to slam droids into the ground and walls. 

Ben ran to the entrance and sealed the door shut, preventing any backup from coming in that way. Though his bond with Rey gave him more strength in the Force than he would have on his own, he still chafed at how relatively weak he was in his current disembodied form. He wanted to be fighting out there next to her, saber in one hand, crushing droids with the other, but he couldn't. What could he do for her?

Human security teams were entering from the upper level. Able to go anywhere he desired, he jumped up to that level and sealed the doors there, too. Then he jumped back down next to Rey. _"I'm going to try to plant some of the charges,"_ he told her as used the Force to lift the flap on her bag and take out a single detonator. He levitated it to the far side of the room and pushed it against the base of a data storage tower, then turned it on.

When he returned to Rey, she was still fighting but had managed to move to the next location where they wanted to plant a charge. Ben took out another one and stuck it to the support pillar for her, activating it. _"I got this one planted. Move on to the next!"_ She nodded and started angling for the next data tower, which was becoming easier to do now that the ranks of security droids and soldiers had been significantly thinned. However, Ben could hear soldiers trying to force open one of the doors. Time was still of the essence. 

Ben lifted another detonator out and took it across the room. As frustrating as his weakness was, it was nice not having to worry about getting hit by any blaster bolts. Rey finished off the last of their opponents and planted a few more charges herself, but then the main entrance doors opened up and stormtroopers poured through. 

Rey's head snapped around to look at the door in alarm. Ben's voice sounded in her mind. _"Get back through the portal! Leave the last few charges for me! I'll place them, then you can reach back in for just a second to press the detonator!"_

_"Will do!"_ Rey took the last three charges from the bag and laid them on the floor, then ran quickly for the portal, deflecting blaster bolts with both sabers as she ran. She leapt through the portal, and none too soon, as stormtroopers had breached the upper level doors as well, and were just moving into position around the upper floor's railing.

Amid shouts of confusion as to where their quarry had gone, Ben reached deep within for strength and called one of the detonators to himself. It came, flying across the room. He pushed it into place, activated it, and called the next. He heard officers yelling orders to find and deactivate the detonators they'd now realized were set all around the room. Ben couldn't let that happen—all of them needed to explode.

He placed the detonator in front of him, turned it on, then ran to the final position. With his last remaining strength, he called the third detonator to himself and placed it. _"Punch it!"_ he yelled to Rey. _"The explosion won't hurt me!"_

Rey reached her arm through the portal and pressed the button on the remote, then pulled her hand back through. Five seconds later, everything lit up as the charges ignited. Ben walked back through the inferno as if it were a walk in the park, then stepped through the portal and joined her. As their bond dropped, he pulled her into a tight embrace, clutching her as if he'd never let go. "I was so worried about you!" he admitted as he continued to hold her. "I wanted to do so much more, but I was too weak." 

Rey pulled her head back and looked into his eyes. "You did fine. You saved me, as well as the mission, and we succeeded. That's all that matters." 

He stroked her hair. "I never want to feel so helpless again." 

Rey stood on her tiptoes and reached up to give him a quick kiss. "We'll get you back," she stated firmly, "and then we'll really find out what we can do as a team." 

Ben didn't say anything, but leaned his cheek against the top of her head for awhile. Rey didn't mind resting here in his arms. She was hungry and tired. Why hadn't she asked Poe for some more food? Well, why not go ask one of her friends for food now? The next thing they needed to do was pay a visit to Lando's team anyway. 

Rey knew that Lando's team planned to stay on Rattatak for some time. Jannah told her that there had been a lot of First Order raids in the area thanks to its remote location and proximity to the Unknown Regions. So there were a lot of parents looking for their children. Rey missed Finn, and Rose, too, so she felt cheered at the prospect of seeing them again. 

Rey let Ben hold her for a little while longer, then gently reminded him of the fact that they needed to go to Rattatak. Just for starters, Rey needed food and drink, a shower, and a visit to the refresher. Then a nap. But first, she wanted out of this First Order disguise. 

Ben took her to the cave portal again and she went through the same clothes-changing routine as before. She peeled off the facial disguise with glee; their plans did not call for her to have to use it again. 

After that, Ben led her to the portal to Rattatak. They stepped through into the gardens behind the hotel where Lando's team was staying. Finn was practicing lightsaber forms, his orange saber whizzing quickly through the air. He was definitely improving, Rey thought with satisfaction. 

Finn saw Rey out the corner of his eye and stopped. "Rey? I didn't know you were here!" 

Rey grinned hugged her friend and Padawan. "Of course you didn't—I just got her a minute ago." She lowered her voice. "I successfully got into the World Between Worlds with Ben. I can go anywhere in space now. I basically appear out of thin air. Just so you know, Ben's with me, too." Finn gave a start, and Rey rushed to continue. "He doesn't have a body, so you can't see or hear him. Only I can, through our bond." 

Finn craned his neck and looked to either side of Rey, not apparently believing he wouldn't be able to see someone if they were there. Rey gave him a playful whack. "You can't see him, I told you!" 

Finn put his hands on her shoulders and bent his knees just a bit so he could look her in the face. He spoke quietly. "Rey, are you all right? Tell me the truth. Is everything ok?" 

Rey wanted to laugh, given all they'd been through, but Finn's concern for her was touching. She gave him a reassuring smile. "Everything is great. He's not at all like Kylo Ren now. Truly." 

"If you say so." Finn seemed to accept what she said, but seemed a little suspicious still. Rey couldn't blame him. 

"Ben just spoke to me," she told him. "He's sorry for injuring you so badly back on Starkiller Base." 

"Hmm." Finn jutted his chin out. "Just be sure you take care of her." 

"Finn, he has been. He's saved my life--a couple of times now. Forgive him. Please." Her eyes begged him, as her oldest friend. "It's the Jedi way." 

Finn's expression softened. "All right." 

He put his arm around her shoulders and started to lead her inside. Rey threw a look back at Ben, who was giving off distinctly jealous vibes. _"He's my friend. Come on."_

Finn led them back into the hotel. "The team is going to break for lunch soon. They'll be excited to see you, and they'll want an update on how your mission is going." 

"I'll tell them as much as I can, but remember, say nothing about how I got here and nothing about Ben. Lando, Jannah, and Rose will find out when I brief them, but no one else must know." 

"Sure thing." Finn led her to the team's dining room where the waitstaff was setting up the room for lunch. She took a seat and talked with Finn about his progress with his training while waiting for the others to arrive. They didn't have to wait long. Lando, Jannah, Rose, Yuna, Cordray, and Harris came through the door, along with many other members of the team Rey didn't know. Rose ran over and gave Rey a hug. 

"Rey!" She exclaimed. "I didn't know you were coming! Why didn't you tell us?" 

"I wanted to surprise you," Rey said, smiling as she hugged her friend back. 

"What brings you back?" Rose asked, as the others also approached, listening. 

Rey looked from person to person. "The first part of my mission was entirely successful, especially thanks to you, Yuna and Cordray." She nodded in their direction as she spoke. "Everything you gave me worked perfectly. We infiltrated several First Order facilities and got what we needed—and also destroyed what we needed to." The group chuckled, and Yuna and Cordray clasped hands and bumped fists in celebration that everything had gone as they'd hoped. 

"I was able to obtain a list of all the First Order ships with hyperspace trackers in them," Rey told them, and an excited murmur ran through the group. "Lando, Jannah, Finn, Rose—after lunch I will brief you on the next stage of the plan. For now, though—I'm starving! Let's eat!" 

The group exchanged laughter and smiles, and Lando patted her on the shoulder. "Well done, young lady." 

Rey could sense Ben's surge of emotions through the bond. "Unca Wanwo," he murmured. _"He loved me...will get ever forgive me for trying to kill my dad?"_

__

__

_"I'm betting he will. He's in charge of the team trying to convince manipulated soldiers to think differently and leave the First Order, after all. There's no bigger defector than you."_

Ben remained silent, thinking, as he so often did when she challenged his beliefs about not being accepted. Rey didn't miss how Rose gravitated towards Finn's side as the group took their seats. When was that oblivious boy going to wake up? 

After Rey had eaten her fill and the lunch had been cleared away, Lando led Rey, Finn, Jannah, and Rose into the small conference room he was using as his office. "Now Miss Rey, tell us about the plan to destroy the hyperspace trackers." 

"I will, but first I have to explain something else, something that you must promise me will never leave this group. Finn already knows, and so do Poe, Han and Chewie, and a small leadership group on Ajan Kloss." After receiving their reassurances, Rey explained about Ben and the World Between Worlds, how Ben was among them in that very room, and how his help and their ability to strike from and retreat into the World Between Worlds had allowed them to steal the kyber crystal array from the _Derriphan_ , extract Dorlan, steal the list of ships with trackers, and destroy the remaining sets of hyperspace tracking plans. 

"Ben and I plan to go from ship to ship using the World Between Worlds and destroy each of their hyperspace trackers and their hyperdrives. I have a homing beacon on my ankle, which will allow the Resistance to know the location of every one of these ships. Instead of simply planning assaults to destroy all of them, Ben and I want every effort to be made to convince the soldiers on board to surrender. That's where your team comes in." 

Lando blew out a breath and shook his head. "Of all the strange stuff I've seen and heard about in the galaxy during my life, this may be the most unbelievable." He looked at the spot where Rey had told them that Ben was standing. "Ben, my boy. Welcome back. I always knew Kylo Ren wasn't who you really were." 

Rey could sense that Ben was very moved. _"Tell him, 'Thanks Unca Wanwo.'"_

"He says, 'Thanks, Unca Wanwo,'" Rey relayed. 

The older man's eyes misted over. "Now I know he's there with you. Only he would call me that." 

After taking a moment to collect himself, Lando addressed the group. "Our esteemed leader here," he gestured towards Rey, "has given us a significant task—a critically important task, a noble task. Every battle we win without major loss of life will be an even greater victory for the galaxy. We will need to call on every resource available. Rose, find Yuna, Cordray, and Harris, and ask them to assemble the entire hacking team, so that we can begin our planning now. Jannah, get Poe, Han, and the leadership team on the comms. Finn, go get the other First Order defectors. We're going to make a plan!" 

While the team assembled, Rey excused herself to use the refresher and then took a brisk walk back out to the hotel gardens where the portal was. She explained to Ben that she was bone tired and needed to sleep, or she wouldn't be alert enough to help with the planning session. She'd realized that if she fell asleep here, their bond would drop—which would strand her here without him—but if she took a nap in the World Between Worlds, she could return in the same minute she'd left, with no one the wiser. They exited back through the portal, and Ben let Rey sleep curled up next to him, where she slumbered deeply and peacefully. Ben put his arm around her, relishing the feel of her close to him, and she snuggled closer to him in her sleep. 


	17. Strategy

Once Rey awoke, she and Ben re-entered the hotel grounds at the same moment they'd left. The first strategy session was held with only the core team, wherein they worked on the development of a plausible cover story for Rey and Ben's part of the mission.

On the record, the official explanation of what was about to take place was that the Resistance had managed to glean the location of the First Order's ships by using information from defectors and hacking into the First Order's communication network. 

The destruction of the hyperdrives and hyperspace trackers was going to be a lot harder to explain plausibly, but the cover story they came up with stated the Republic had developed small bots that they would release in the vicinity of the First Order ships. These covert bots would, like buzz droids, cut into the First Order ships and then carry thermal detonators to the hyperdrives and hyperspace trackers. However, even this story would remain classified, as they didn't want to give anyone any ideas about developing such bots for real.

After a very long planning session with the entire team, a sweeping plan was formed. After Ben and Rey had disabled each ship on the list, the Republic would send a detachment of ships large enough to overwhelm not only the ship in question but any others that might be traveling with it. They wanted the size of each Republic battle group alone to be a good reason in and of itself for the First Order commanders to decide to stand down, but if they were not persuaded to do so, the Republic needed to be able to win any battles that might result, especially if the First Order called in reinforcements. Their educated guesses about the compositions of the First Order formations were based on intel from First Order defectors and Ben, who described typical First Order fleet configurations to Rey.

If the First Order ships fired on the strike force, the main objective would be to knock out their weapons systems and simply leave them helpless and forced to listen. The Republic forces would broadcast messages put together by Finn, Jannah, and the other defectors, encouraging the soldiers to surrender and accept their offer to try to reunite them with their families. The hacking team was going to breach the First Order communications network so that the broadcasts would be heard by everyone, and the team would also work to get messages onto the soldiers' communicators, comm stations, and the like.

There were forty-five ships on the list, so the coordination needed to pull off this operation was going to be massive, but fortunately a great deal of the galaxy was on their side now, so they had many resources to draw on. The Republic needed to prepare facilities for holding defectors and prisoners. They would need to assemble battalions of soldiers willing to board each ship and take the risk that the surrender was a ruse and that they might be met with deadly force by First Order soldiers desirous of taking down as many enemy fighters as they could before succumbing. They needed many, many droids who would sweep the interiors of the ships for booby traps and hidden weapons. They would need to bring along repair teams who would get the hyperdrives back into working order—or replace them—so the Republic could claim the ships.

They would need to assemble as many single light starfighters as they could possibly scrape up in order not only to counteract the enemies' fighters, but to penetrate enemy shields and take out their weapons systems. The defectors' knowledge of their ships was going to be very useful when giving briefings to the Republic commanders, pilots, and soldiers.

The Republic would send out nine battle groups at a time in order to be able to maintain dominant fleet sizes. Rey would check in with Poe after hitting nine ships and coordinate with him on when to start the next nine. This would continue until the all the ships were either captured or destroyed. As soon as a battle group reported victory, a follow-up force would be called in. This force would transport defectors and prisoners as well as secure and repair First Order ships before taking them to Republic impound yards.

In the midst of all this, Rey and Ben had another plan for the _Derriphan_. They knew without a doubt that for the good of the galaxy, the region of Exegol where the Emperor had set up his main base of operations and where the portal to the World Between Worlds apparently existed needed to be destroyed. The place was dark and evil, and who knew how many other twisted projects the Emperor had going on there in shielded underground facilities. All the dark magic and shrines to the Sith likewise needed to eradicated like a deadly plague, and last but not least, the portal to the World Between Worlds had to be destroyed, or, if that wasn't possible—for Rey and Ben didn't know if such a portal could be destroyed—it needed to be made inaccessible by anyone. Therefore, they needed to take control of the _Derriphan_ and use it for this purpose.

Rey and Ben had read the survey report. The Republic had cleared the planet of all the Sith Eternal cultists they could find, which wasn't a lot, because the vast majority of them had died on the Final Order Star Destroyers during the Battle of Exegol. The survey group was still there mapping out the planet and searching for further Sith complexes, but there wasn't much firepower in orbit anymore.

Rey assumed that Poe had ordered more ships to guard the planet when he'd talked to Admiral Starkey before. Hopefully that would be enough to keep the _Derriphan_ away for just a little while longer. It wasn't quite time to lure it there.

~~~~~

After dinner, Rey was able to grab a desperately needed shower and a change of clothes before each of the teams got together to discuss more details of the operation. It had been a long day, but she was still in good shape, thanks to her long nap, and she insisted on giving Finn a short lesson before he turned in for the night. She taught him more about calming himself and finding clarity in the midst of stress. He was going to need it.

Rey bid Finn goodnight and asked him to tell the rest of the group that she had left because Poe had called her and asked her to join him at the command center. She and Ben, who had quietly observed her lesson, departed Rattatak through the portal and dropped their bond, which had started to become a strain after all those hours of keeping it open. Poe had indeed asked Rey to join him, but not until all the preparations had been made. For Rey, though, this would take only long enough to find the right portal. 

Ben concentrated on the place, day, and time, and stopped in front of a portal. 

After re-establishing their bond, Rey emerged once again in Poe's office. Han, Chewie, D'Acy, and Ematt were there with him by hologram.

"Rey!" Poe exclaimed. "Right on time!"

"Don't forget Ben; he's right here with me."

"Of course. Are you two ready to begin Operation Final Flight?"

"Ready as we'll ever be. Let me turn on my homing beacon—" she reached down and switched it on. "There. I assume you are all ready?" 

"Yes. I'd rather be in an X-wing blowing stuff up, but I know some of us have to stay behind to coordinate everything."

Rey smiled. "You'll do fine, General. Especially with these seasoned leaders behind you."

Poe gave her a friendly pat on her shoulder. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." He looked back at his leadership team. "Each one of these Generals—well, Han and Chewie together—will be overseeing the three largest strike teams, with six other generals manning the rest. My team here will keep tabs on everything in the command center. The fleets are massed around the galaxy. We'll move the moment your homing beacon signal registers a location."

Poe handed her a case of thermal detonators. "Here's your firepower."

"Thank you much. It's time for us to go then. May the Force be with you."

"And you," Poe responded.

"Ben." Han stood up, and Rey gestured with her head to the side where Ben was standing so that Han could direct his gaze towards his son. "May the Force be with you, too." 

"He says 'Thanks, dad,'" Rey told him. Han nodded.

Rey threw Poe a cheerful salute in farewell and stepped back through the portal, along with Ben. 

After they dropped their bond, but before she could say anything, Ben took the case of detonators out of her hand, set it down, and pulled her into a hug. "I know I keep saying this, but whatever happens, I love you, and I admire you for being determined to do whatever it takes to save and protect people."

"I love you, too, and I admire you for the same." They shared a quick kiss, then Ben picked the detonators back up, and as they'd become so accustomed to doing, they threaded their fingers together and held hands as they walked along.

They approached the portal. "The Star Destroyer _Storm_. Ready?" Ben asked. Rey nodded and took out two charges, stowing them in her pocket. They initiated their bond, then Ben stepped through. He would make his way to the hyperdrive, then take down the security cameras in the hyperspace tracker room from afar. At his signal, Rey would come through into the hyperspace tracker room and join her strength with his, allowing him to do some serious damage to the hyperdrive—more than could be repaired by replacing a damaged part or two. Then she would plant a couple detonators, retreat to the portal, depress the button on the remote, and finally, retreat through the portal while the hyperspace tracker was turned into charred fragments. Ben would join her and they would repeat, repeat, repeat.

As she waited for Ben's signal, Rey checked her blaster one last time and then took a single saber in hand. Through the portal, she could see only a portion of the room where the hyperspace tracker was located; there was no guarantee she wouldn't be met with resistance.

Rey didn't have to wait long before she felt the faint signal in her mind. She stepped through the portal on high alert, but no one was in the immediate vicinity. That was not particularly unexpected, since no one really needed to be in the room except for maintenance and repair. It wouldn't remain empty for long, though. Taking out the security cameras would definitely create problems for them, as it would bring security forces to the room, but it was necessary. If anyone became aware of Rey's presence, their ability to travel interdimensionally would become obvious, especially once accounts of what happened on each ship were shared. 

Rey ducked into a corner and told Ben she was ready, then joined her strength with his. Immediately, she felt an explosion of sorts far away on the ship, then heard Ben say, _"It's done. Your turn."_

Rey still could see no one. She crept quickly over to the central hub, where she could both hear and feel crackling energy from the tracker. She attached a thermal detonator to each side.

As soon as she was finished, she dashed back to the portal, checking behind her for enemy soldiers. When she reached it, she pressed the button on the remote and jumped through the circular opening just as she saw the door to the room open. But her view of the doorway was soon obscured by a giant explosion. Ben joined her as soon as he had crossed the distance from the hyperdrive. 

The two of them embraced in jubilation. "Went off without a hitch!" Ben exulted. Rey spent a moment calming down from the adrenaline. This was just the first ship of the first set of nine, so they needed to be careful not to burn out. The beauty of being in this realm was that they could recharge for as long as they needed and always return at just the right moment. Rey would get food and drink and other necessities each time they visited Poe. Ben didn't need any of that, of course, but he did need to recover his energy or he wouldn't be able to use the Force.  
After they both felt rested enough, they made their way to the next target.


	18. Battle

Back at the command center, Rey's signal registered. Poe pressed a button on the holo display and images of Han and Chewbacca appeared. "Han, Chewbacca, the _Storm_ is at Utapau," Poe announced. "Your battle group is closest, so I'm assigning you to take the _Storm_. I'm sending you the information we have on file from our intelligence network about the First Order's naval forces there. Use to form a plan as quickly as you can."

"Will do, General," Han replied as Chewie verbalized his assent. 

On the command cruiser _Sunrise_ , Poe's hologram winked out as Han and Chewie signed off. "All right, old buddy," Han told Chewie. "Let's finish what Ben and Rey started." 

After scanning the information from Poe, he and Chewie quickly consulted with the rest of the commanders in his battle group. After formulating a strategy, Han opened up a channel to his entire fleet. "Attention, Battle Group Alpha! All craft, prepare for departure. The destination is Utapau. The target is the Star Destroyer _Storm_ and its escort craft. This war, in one form or another, has been going on nearly my entire life. I'm ready to end it for good! If you are too, get ready, because our part starts now. Remember General Leia. Remember her courage, her heart, her selflessness, and her tenacity, and fight for what she fought for—life and liberty. Jump to hyperspace on my mark!"

Inspired by General Solo's speech, Finn sat down with Rose in the operations room set aside for the Messengers, as the hacking teams within each strike force were now called. "Rey won't let us down," Finn stated confidently, looking at Rose. "And if Ren really is on our side now—"

"Ben," Rose corrected him. "He's not Kylo Ren anymore. Love saved him. Like I told you on Crait when I said we'd win by saving what we loved."

"And you saved me," Finn said. "And Luke saved us." Rose nodded and put her hand lightly on Finn's arm.

He didn't seem to notice though, because he was getting riled again. "How could she love him? It doesn't make any sense! She tried to explain it to me all this last year since Crait, but I still don't get it! He was our enemy, a murderer! He almost killed us both on Starkiller Base!"

"Think about General Leia. She loved him. It didn't mean she loved his choices. In fact, quite the opposite."

"She was his mother. Not the same."

"Isn't it? Think about it—there are different kinds of love. For example, the love you have for your family is different from the love you have for your friends, and both are different from romantic love. But the core values of all are the same. For Rey, it started with compassion and a desire to save him—the same as General Leia felt for him.

"Then, she told me, through their bond she was able to learn a lot more about him, his feelings, his experiences, and how he'd been manipulated, abused, and lied to by Dark Side forces all his life. She also discovered he had feelings for her, but until he rejected the Dark Side, he didn't know how to love, because he'd embraced all sorts of things—selfishness, lust for power, revenge, aggression, unforgiveness—that are the opposite of love.

"Rey didn't fall in love with Kylo Ren, she fell in love with Ben Solo—the man he had been, and the man she knew he could be again if he chose. When he did become Ben again, he proved her right by rushing to her side and saving her—and by extension the galaxy—from accepting the devil's bargain of killing Palpatine and being possessed by him in order to save the Resistance. Then he ultimately gave the rest of his life force to save her from dying, and there's no greater love than to give up your life for another."

"Did Rey tell you all that?"

"Mostly; the rest I guessed. With Rey having no family of her own, and mine all gone, we've grown to be a lot like sisters."

Finn looked directly at Rose. "How do you know so much about love?"

"When you see it modeled for you and you have people around who love you, you learn what it is. My family was really close, despite our circumstances. Tough times either drive you together or drive you apart, I think, and it drove my family together."

Finn looked down, dejected. "I'm afraid I don't know how to love. I never had anyone to show me."

Rose's voice was earnest. "Finn, you do! Your very first act of rebellion as a stormtrooper was an act of love for those villagers on Jakku you wouldn't murder. You care deeply for Rey and Poe, your first friends. You care for Jannah, and, I hope, for me too." She said this last bit lightly, hiding how much was behind it. "And I've seen you willing time and time again to lay down your life for the Resistance and what it stands for—life and freedom for everyone in the galaxy. That's love. The First Order tried to make you into machines, but they couldn't kill what was in your heart. It's why we're going to be successful."

It was Finn's turn this time to put his hand on Rose's. "Rose, thank you," he said, as he squeezed her hand and looked at her with something new in his eyes.

~~~~~

The _Storm_ was accompanied by a second Star Destroyer and some lighter craft, but with five capital ships, a large escort of smaller ships, and a double compliment of single-man fighters, Battle Group Alpha clearly had the upper hand. As soon as they arrived in the Utapau system, Han began broadcasting his call to surrender.

After Han finished, the Messengers began broadcasting their pre-recorded messages, introducing themselves, offering amnesty and a chance to be reunited with their families, and promising them they would never be forced to fight again and could choose their own path forward in life. With the help of First Order defectors like Harris from the tech division, the Messengers, too, had the upper hand over First Order commanders who tried to cut off their transmissions. They couldn't, because the Messengers were able to get into the First Order's own communications network.

Faced with overwhelming odds, the second Star Destroyer and lighter craft fled into hyperspace, but the _Storm_ obviously could not. Initially, the Storm did fight back after the commander broadcast a message that he would rather die than surrender. But after the light fighters took out half their guns, a new voice contacted General Solo. 

"This is second lieutenant Meara of the Star Destroyer _Storm_. I am officially surrendering this ship on behalf of its crew." A cheer arose from the bridge crew on the _Sunrise_ , as well as from the Messengers' command center.

"Surrender accepted," Han answered. "Prepare to be boarded shortly. Don't try anything."

"No, sir, we won't. At least, I know I won't. Meara out."

Han's next move was to report to Poe, who called in the follow-up force.

~~~~~

When Rey checked in with Poe, he had just finished sending out the ninth battle group. He assured her that her signal had registered loud and clear and that all the strike forces were on their way. As per the plan, their next string of hits would be on all the smaller ships with miniaturized systems, so Poe called for several more cases of thermal detonators to send with her. The plan for taking care of each small ship was for Rey to simply plant thermal charges on it while it was sitting in its hangar and destroy the entire thing.

The destruction of these small ships would not need to involve the battle groups, of course, so Rey and Ben were going to destroy them right away while the element of surprise was still on their side. As soon as the Republic battle forces engaged the First Order, their enemies would start to figure out what was going on. By the time the Republic forces reconvened for their second set of strikes, the hyperspace trackers on the remaining ships would probably be heavily guarded. The hyperdrives would be, too, but it wasn't like that was a problem for Ben. If they didn't hit the smaller craft right away, those ships would be so heavily guarded that it would become impossible for Rey to plant any charges on them.

Their attacks were accomplished with relative ease—Ben shorting out the security cameras first, then Rey entering, taking out any guards and observers, then planting charges and detonating them with the remote before leaving again. Rey felt like she would be an expert in placing detonators by the time she exited the World Between Worlds for the last time. That, and making people unconscious.

After getting some rest, meeting with Poe again, and eating a meal, it was back to business. Through the portal into the next ship on the list, they could see that their predictions about the hyperspace trackers being guarded from now on were correct. But from scavenging old Star Destroyers, Rey knew that there was a generally a crawlspace between each of the decks for wires, conduits, ventilation, and artificial gravity field generators. If she could go through a portal into this crawlspace, she could use the Force to pour heat energy into the hyperspace tracker either from above or underneath it.

Ben agreed this plan was far superior to trying to fight all the guards, especially as they would have to be sure to leave none alive to report what they had seen. They turned around, and Ben led her to an adjacent portal, where she could see a crawl space. "Perfect," she declared. "Is this one above or below the tracking room?"

"Above." 

"All right, Let's do it."

Initiating their bond was so second nature now that they didn't even have to think about it; it snapped in place instantly whenever they willed. Ben went through first, and Rey followed when she felt his signal. No need to put any security cameras on the fritz this time.

Rey crawled through the portal and gave strength to Ben until she could feel the explosion. Then she continued crawling forward, using the Force to reveal the location of the hyperspace tracker's hub, which of course she could not see. But Leia had taught her well that lack of physical sight was not much of an impediment when one had the Force.

Once she was directly above it, Rey asked Ben for help, and he sent her some strength, which—reduced though it was—helped. She generated heat and directed it down into the hub until the computer circuitry had been fried and the central components were melted ruins. All the exclamations she could hear coming from the room below would have told her exactly what was going on even if she hadn't been using the Force to observe the scene. She crawled backwards through the portal and was shortly joined by Ben.

The number of ships they had to disable in this way felt absolutely endless, but eventually they found themselves withdrawing from the final ship and going back to see Poe for a final report.


	19. Family

"Congratulations, Rey. And Ben," Poe quickly remembered to add. "We've dealt a bigger blow to the First Order than any of us ever dreamed possible. We did take some losses, especially in the last group of strikes once the First Order had time to anticipate what was going to happen and reinforce their fleet groupings before we got there. It was touch and go with General Ematt's group, but the work of the Messengers made the difference in the end. We have thousands of former First Order soldiers wanting to see if we can help find their families. Lando and his team are going to be busy for a long time."

"I'm so glad, Poe." Rey never liked to hear about losses, but at least the losses they'd suffered during this operation were smaller than they would have been if the Republic had had to duke it out with the First Order for who knew how long as each side bled casualties, ships, and resources.

"So, there's just one looming matter as far as I know. The _Derriphan_."

"Yes. The last piece of our mission," Rey confirmed. "We need you to remove the survey team and the fleet. We want to try to lure the _Derriphan_ there. If they think we've left, they might come in search of more kyber. But unbeknownst to them, we will be massing an enormous fleet not far away, ready to pounce on them when they arrive. They can't use their superlaser, so with all our firepower, we should be able to knock out their guns, but these Sith Eternal cultists won't give up without a fight."

"I still don't know why you need the ship intact. We know from the Battle of Exegol that if we get their shields down and target that superlaser, the thing will explode in spectacular fashion," Poe reminded her.

Rey glanced over to where Poe imagined Ben must be standing. "For the good of the galaxy, we have to destroy the Sith headquarters. Not only is it dangerously malevolent, but absolutely no one must ever be able to enter into the World Between Worlds again. We need to leave a really big crater in Exegol's surface."

Poe took a big breath and thought about it. "Agreed," he said finally. "The potential for problems is too great if we don't.” _If only he knew the full extent of it,_ Rey mused. "All right, leave it to me. I'll consult with our strategists and try to figure out how to take the ship intact." 

"Thanks. Don't forget that Ben and I need to leave through the portal before it's destroyed. So the next thing we're going to do is get Ben out of here and leave Exegol. After that we won't have the advantage of being in the World Between Worlds."

"It was nice while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end. All right. Meet me back here on Ajan Kloss. I'll give you a freighter you can use to transport the kyber crystal array from Ahch-To to where the fleet will mass near Exegol. We'll use a databank in one of the captured First Order ships to find a safe place to assemble, considering we don't have much information of our own on safe routes through the Unknown Regions."

"Except to Ahch-To," Rey reminded him, "and you need to keep that place a strict secret. Once Ben returns to the physical world, we're going to need a place to live where he'll be safe from everyone who wants to see him dead out of a sense of justice or revenge."

"It'll be a little lonely there, don't you think?"

"I've got plans for Jedi Academy. A busy one. And our friends will always be welcome to visit." She smiled. "Plus, it's not like I can never leave."

"All right, if you say so." Poe gave her a friendly clap on the arm. "Take care. See you soon."

"I'll—I mean we'll—be back as soon as we can."

After stepping back through the portal, Rey faced Ben and put her arms around his neck. "Ben, we did it," she told him softly. "We saved everyone and everything we planned to save, and we crippled the First Order so badly that the war should be over in no time. We did it. We still have to deal with the Derriphan, but we're done with what we can do from here. Now is it time to try to save you?"

"There's something else I want to show you first. I think—I hope—it will be very special to you. Come," he invited, as he held out his hand to her. They walked along the line of portals for awhile, until they came to one through which Rey could see a lot of desert sand.

"Rey, at the beginning of all this, you asked me if I'd been watching you on Jakku. I did watch you some—but I didn't invade your privacy, I promise," he hastened to add. "I respect you too much for that. I watched some of your daily life, and I saw your AT-AT home where you scratched out tick marks for every day that went by waiting for your family to return. I'm so sorry that I ever mocked you for your loneliness and your intense desire to see your parents again. Will you forgive me?"

His contrition was so heartbreaking. "Yes," Rey answered without hesitation.

"Thank you, sweetheart." He kissed her quickly. "So yes, I did watch you on Jakku, but I spent more time in your distant past than in your more recent past. I searched for some things that I'm pretty sure you'd like to know. One: your parents' names. They were Obris and Caristelle Solana. Solana was your mother's last name, which your father went by."

"Obris and Caristelle Solana," Rey repeated softly. "How do you know that?"

"I watched and I listened. And the Force led me to some important days." He grew very sober. "One day I did see was the day they sold you. It was horrible to watch, but I knew you would still have all kinds of questions. Like how selling you would protect you."

"Yes," Rey said with a lump in her throat.

Ben took a deep breath. "Living on Jakku, your parents thought they'd finally gone off the grid. The fear that Ochi would find all of you was always niggling at the back of their minds, but they felt pretty confident no one could trace them. They never did know how Ochi found your family, and I don't, either.

"On the day he arrived, they were at Niima Outpost with you. They happened to look up and see his ship and knew that they'd been found, and that they only had a few minutes to hide you. They had plans to leave you with a family in your village if it ever became necessary, but that plan wasn't possible anymore. As they looked around, there were no kindly-looking older ladies or anyone who seemed like a remotely suitable person to look after you. Their speeders were on the other side of the outpost and they didn't think they would reach them in time. They reasoned that if they sold you to Unkar Plutt, he would at least offer you a basic level of protection as an investment and an asset.

"They were absolutely devastated to leave you. I think you know that now and can recall those memories. They wanted to come back with all their hearts, but it wasn't to be."

Rey was weeping. "I hate him, I hate them! I hate Ochi, I hate Palpatine! They took everything from me!"

Ben held her close for a long time as she let out all her emotions. He stroked her hair and rubbed her back until all her tears were spent. "Remember what you told me about forgiveness, Rey. You have to forgive them too, even though they were never sorry, don't deserve it, and now are gone anyway. It's not for them, it's for you. So you don't carry around poison in your heart." He kissed the top of her head and she nodded, wiping away the wetness from her cheeks. She took some more deep breaths.

Ben spoke again. "Palpatine and Ochi did take your parents away, but like Alderaan, they still exist—in the past. I brought you here so you could see them."  
Rey gasped and her voice trembled. "I can see them?"

Ben smiled. "Yes. It's your sixth birthday, not long before they were taken. If you're careful, you can watch from behind the side of the hut and through the window. Use the Force to create photographic memories."

Unable to speak, Rey nodded. Ben initiated their bond, and they stepped through. The Jakku sun was going down, and Rey could hear voices coming from the front of their hut. She crept as quietly as she could to the side of the hut and looked around the corner. Her younger self was laughing with her parents as they roasted kartee sausages around a fire. The Jakku days were hot, but nights could get cold. She had vague memories of hanging out around a fire when she was young. Rey's dad rubbed the top of her head affectionately as she tried to tell a joke she had made up. He laughed obligingly even through it didn't make sense. Her mother reached over to fix one of her buns, which had come loose.

Rey continued to observe her family as they ate the sausages. Then Rey's parents brought out a surprise—sugar puffs! Her younger self had only ever heard of them, as they were a rare and expensive commodity. Her eyes were wide with delight as her parents showed her how to roast them properly over the fire. When she tasted one, she exclaimed "Yum!" loudly, much to her parents' joy.

When all the food had been eaten, her parents presented her with the gift of a handmade doll, and her father spun a tale of the Rebellion heroes as darkness descended. Silent tears slipped down the older Rey's face as she watched her younger self sit in her father's loving embrace and listen, enraptured.

Young Rey put up inevitable protests when her mother insisted it was time for bed. As her parents shepherded her younger self into the hut, Rey sneaked around to the window and used the Force to gently push back a curtain just far enough for her to see in. She watched as her parents made sure her teeth were cleaned and her mother undid her hair buns. They sang her a couple of folk songs, and then she hugged them tightly, saying, "This was the best day of my life! I love you, Mommy! I love you, Daddy!"

Her parents told her that they loved her and exchanged kisses with her. After covering her with a threadbare blanket, they left the hut again to sit by the fire. Rey crept back to her former hiding spot.

Obris held out his arm to Caristelle, and she sidled up to him. He put his arm around her back, she laid her head on his shoulder, and they sat watching the dancing flames for awhile. Then Caristelle spoke. "Obris, you've always told me you were sorry you couldn't provide me a better life, that you were sorry we were on the run and hiding in remote places to escape Palpatine." She took Obris's other hand and squeezed it. "But you know my life as a slave wasn't good anyway. Look what I got in return. Love, a husband—even if our marriage isn't registered anywhere, it doesn't matter to me—and a beautiful daughter." She lifted her head and looked at her husband's face. "Thank you for helping me escape. I don't regret it."

Obris turned to face Caristelle better and gently tipped her chin up, then leaned down to kiss her. Rey's heart nearly burst at the beauty of their love, and while she was heartbroken at the fate that befell them, she couldn't help but be happy that her parents did love each other, and her. No doubt as time went on, Ben would help her search her mind and recover more memories. They were in there, and he had seen them when they touched hands way back before Crait. Maybe she just needed him to help her dig them out.

Despite her uncomfortable crouched position, Rey stayed and watched her parents as they sat together, and she wasn't the least bit bored even during their long companionable silences. She drank in every moment. She thought about their last name, Solana. Solana—that's my true family name, she thought to herself. Finally as the night grew late, she watched them douse the fire and go back into the hut to go to bed. With nothing more to see, she reluctantly returned to the portal and stepped through with Ben. As they dropped their bond, she walked right into his arms and he held her again for along time as she processed all she had seen.

At length, she spoke. "Ben, do you know what date that was? My birthday?"

"I sure do." He told her the date, and she snuggled closer. 

"I know my birthday," she said quietly, then went silent for awhile longer, thinking.

Finally she pulled back and spoke. "Ben, half of me wants to go back over and over to watch many of my family's days together. But the other half of me is getting tired—not a physical tired, but something else—and I sense the Force telling me to go...like I can't stay here forever. It's out of sync with the Force for me to be here when I'm supposed to be in the physical world."

"I know," Ben sighed. "I spent many, many days going back to the past. My past, my parents' past, my grandparents' past, Alderaan's past, the Republic's past. I could have stayed even longer, but the Force was telling me to move on. I finally succeeded in bringing you here, and with the cooperation of the Force, we've accomplished so much. Like you, I'm torn. I want to change more things, save more people. But part of me knows, or maybe is just now admitting, that the Force won't let me stay here forever, either. It's not a place anyone is supposed to be unless the Force wills it. Something inside me knows that if I try to stay, one day when I go through a portal, the Force will pull me into the realm of the spirits for good."

Rey tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "The Force would keep you from becoming a tyrant, creating more wounds than you healed. If you didn't leave, one day when you could no longer think of any more mistakes of your own to undo, you would start looking for other things to change. And you would start to think it was your right to meddle in anything and everything you judged appropriate. You would become a kind of god in your own mind. I know, because I would, too. Anyone would, even those of us who started out with the best of intentions. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

"Which I know all too well...and so do you," he said grimly, then hugged her fiercely.

After long moments, Rey queried gently, "Are you ready to try to go back—into the material world?"

"Not yet. There's something I want to say first.”


	20. Return

Ben placed both of his hands on both of Rey's arms. "Rey, I love you more than my own life." He slid one of his hands down her arm and held her hand in his. "I still don't know how you can stand to let a murderer touch you—"

"Ben..." she interrupted.

He shook his head to ask her not to interrupt, and continued. "—but I'm the most blessed man in the universe." He brought both of her hands up to his lips and kissed them. "Rey Solana Skywalker, you once had no last name, and now you have more than you ever imagined—more, even, than you want, but...if it works, if I make it out alive, would you do me the immense honor of taking one more last name—mine? Will you marry me?"

Rey's eyes were shining. "Yes! Yes, I will become your wife, Ben Solo. We really are two that are one, and I will never love anyone the way I love you."

Rey eagerly put her arms around Ben's neck, and he put his arms around her waist and drew her close. Their lips met, and there was nothing else in that moment but the two of them and their hearts overflowing with love and dreams.

Rey pulled away first. Her face with alive with excitement. "Let's get you back into the land of the living. I want to get married as soon as possible." She gave him the biggest grin he'd ever seen.

He leaned in for another quick peck. "You and me both, my beautiful Light."

Suddenly Ben gave a laughing snort. "I just realized something. If this works, I'm not going to have any clothes."

Rey startled, then looked away. Ben sensed her embarrassment, but what he didn't realize was that it wasn't from the thought of him having no clothes, but rather what she was about to admit.

In a quiet voice, she murmured, "I know exactly where some clothes are that will fit you perfectly. Because they're yours..." she trailed off, then cleared her throat. "Can you find a portal to the _Falcon_?”

Ben grinned. "You kept my clothes?" Rey nodded sheepishly. A sly grin tipped up one corner of his mouth. "Well, well, well..." 

Rey had many thoughts running through her head, but she didn't want to share them yet. _Soon..._ She took his hand. "Let's just go, ok?" 

"Sure thing," he replied, still grinning like a fool. Ben concentrated on accessing a portal to the _Falcon_ , and they came upon it right away. The Force knew it was time to go home. But Rey did not turn towards the portal. 

"Ben," Rey asked, looking off into the distance, "what are these portals—these ones on the other side of the present day? They look different. Things are really swirling around." 

"Those are the future. The Force exists in every time and connects them together; it's why we can see visions of the future. But you can only look through those portals, you can't go in. The future is always in motion and ever changing." 

Curious, Rey walked over to one that seemed to call to her. She looked in and saw the terrace of a beautiful lakeside palace. The sun was shining, the trees were emerald green, and blooming flowers created vibrant bursts of color all over. In the middle of the terrace stood herself and Ben, facing each other and holding hands. Rey was dressed in a flowing gown that, in the Naboo wedding tradition, was white. The top of the dress was covered with tiny pearls and diamonds that cascaded down the shiny satin of the gown. Her hair was piled on the top of her head in soft curls, and she wore a diamond tiara that looked like a sunburst. Ben looked handsome in a fine white shirt, black pants, and a royal blue vest richly embroidered in a pattern of gold, silver, purple, maroon, and green. 

Surrounding them were those who were family to them, whether by blood or ties of close friendship: Han, Chewie, Lando, Jannah, Finn, Rose, Poe, and Zorii. Not even the droids were left out: C-3PO, R2-D2, BB-8, and D-O were all there. Rey could even see the spirits of Luke, Leia, and Anakin watching them. 

Rey felt Ben place his arms around her waist from behind. "If that's the future, then I'm going to make it." His voice was laden with emotion. "I'm going to live again." 

Rey squeezed his hands. "Yes, you are. Ever since I found you here, I always believed it would happen." 

After watching the scene for a few more minutes, they walked back to the portal to the Falcon and opened their bond with each other. "I'll be right back," Rey told him and then dashed into the ship. She returned moments later with a set of ragged black clothes and boots and held them out to him. 

"Here. I assume since you're choosing to appear solid, you can put these on before we bring you through." 

Ben quickly put on the clothes. He looked down and fingered the hole in his shirt, contemplating the moment it was created. 

Rey kissed him quickly and took his hands in hers. "Now we're going to bring you back to the living world. Let's find the ultimate portal out of here." 

The portal Ben approached appeared as a giant triangle, different from the others. She, too, could sense that this one was the exit Ben needed. 

Rey kept ahold of Ben's hands and stepped backward through the portal just far enough so that every bit of her except for her hands was in the real world. From her point of view, she stood in front of the rock wall with her arms encased in the solid stone. "Immerse yourself in the living Force completely. Receive my gift of life, and use the power of our bond in the Force to grow more life within yourself. Remember, the dyad is a power like life itself." 

Rey closed her eyes and drew the Force around her closer than she ever had. She concentrated on Ben's hands and sent some of her life energy into him, sending her love with it. Slowly she pulled Ben's hands through the portal. She could feel him taking the energy she had given him and growing it. Her hands appeared, holding Ben's, as solid as anything. She sent him more of her life force, and continued pulling him through the portal. 

His arms appeared. Ben was so strong in the Force! She could feel him using the Force, and the power of their bond, and their love, to increase what she had given him until he was brimming so full of life energy that he had enough to send some back to her to replenish what she had lost. Full of strength, she pulled him the final inches through the portal. 

As Rey looked into the face of Ben Solo, the portal behind him disappeared. He was back. They were back. For good. She leapt into his arms and kissed him as tears ran down both of their faces. 

Ben was the first to speak. "Let's get off this cursed rock." 

"I heartily agree." They held hands and made their way out of the Sith temple and to the _Falcon_. Rey gestured at it. "Captain Solo, the _Millennium Falcon_ is yours to command!" 

Ben's eyes lit up like Rey thought they might have as a boy at the prospect of flying with his father—something which she was sure would soon occur once more. She followed him into the cockpit and sat down in the co-pilot's chair while he initiated the start-up sequence. As he looked out the window and began to raise the Falcon from the ground, she couldn't help but lean over and plant a kiss on his cheek. He grinned and punched the accelerator.

~~~~~ 

When the _Falcon_ landed back on Ajan Kloss, Ben and Rey stayed aboard. They had decided that Ben's existence should be kept a closely guarded secret for now, so he, at least, was not going to leave the ship for any longer than necessary. So it was that Poe, Finn, and Rose came aboard to meet them. Hugs, smiles, and laughter were shared all around between them and Rey, then all quieted as Ben came around the corner. He wasn't looking at them, though. He was looking at the man who had just stepped up the gangplank, Han Solo.

"Dad." His voice wavered. "I'm so sorry. About everything." 

"I know." Han's voice was quiet but steady. 

"I came home—like you asked me to. Will you forgive me?" 

Han smiled. "Yes." 

At that moment, Ben rushed forward into his father's arms. Though he was more than thirty years old, right now he was a little boy again, needing the comfort of his father's embrace after experiencing a nightmare. Despite all the pain he had caused, his father was joyful at his repentant return, rather than being ashamed and wishing he had never come back. Both men were crying. 

Rey and Rose were weeping, too, and even Finn and Poe looked deeply affected. Kylo Ren may have been their mortal enemy, and they may have been skeptical about his turn to the light at first, but she never doubted all her friends would come around. 

As soon as Han and Ben released each other from their embrace, Chewie released excited growls and rushed forward to catch Ben up in a big furry hug. "Chewie, I'm sorry," Ben told him. More Wookiee vocal tones answered him, and even those who couldn't speak Shyriiwook could tell that Chewie was bestowing his forgiveness and acceptance on Ben. 

After their reunion concluded, Rey left the ship to get some food and other provisions, as well as a new set of clothes for Ben. He ended up dressed in a cream-colored shirt, a non-descript brown jacket, a pair of black pants, and a pair of dark brown boots. He looked comfortable—and Rey sensed that he felt comfortable and content—wearing just plain ordinary clothes. 

Later, under cover of darkness, Poe led them into the freighter which he had directed them to park the _Falcon_ next to when they'd arrived. He explained that the route to Ahch-To had been programmed into the hyperdrive navi-computer but would be deleted as soon as they returned. He bid them farewell, and they left to collect the kyber crystal array. 

Stepping out onto the island where they had stashed the array, they were greeted with a gentle breeze and a gorgeous sunset. Ben put his arms around Rey as they gazed at the beautiful vista in front of them. "It feels good to feel the wind in my hair and the ground beneath my feet," Ben remarked. Rey smiled at him, and they continued watching the sunset until the colors began to fade. 

Walking over to the array, Rey remarked to Ben that they had not yet tried to initiate their bond or work together on a task since returning from the World Between Worlds, and she wondered aloud if it would feel different, or work differently. 

"I guess I've been too distracted to think about it," he answered. "Like right now. All I can think about is how beautiful you are," he told her as he brushed stray strands of hair out of her face. 

Rey smiled and admonished him with a quiet "Ben!" as she blushed and cast her eyes down, and Ben thought yet again how sweet—but also insanely attractive—her demure reactions to his attentions were. But he also knew her well enough by now to recognize there was a depth of passion in Rey that he couldn't wait to spend a lifetime exploring. 

He grinned. "All right then, back to the array." He winked at her before turning away; he could pretty much feel her blush again. 

Their bond snapped in place automatically as they willed it, just as it had in the World Between Worlds. As they joined their strength to lift the array, both of them were surprised to discover how easy it was. It was as if they were lifting a handful of feathers! They had accomplished many tasks together during their mission, some quite difficult, but it had required a lot of concentration and strength, and Ben had been considerably weaker than Rey. But now that he was back in the physical world, his strength was equal to hers, and their combined strength was many times greater than what the two of them possessed separately. 

"Wow," Rey breathed. "I can't believe how easy this is." 

"Like the most natural thing in the world," Ben agreed. 

After loading the array, they headed directly to the coordinates Poe had given them. There they would wait, along with four of the nine battle groups that had participated in the attack on the First Order ships. Han and Chewie had joined them in the _Falcon_ , saying it felt just like old times. 

Poe and his strategists had come up with a plan for taking the _Derriphan_ intact, but Rey knew only the basic points, as Poe had told her in no uncertain terms that she and Ben could not participate in that part of the operation; none of the commanders wanted to risk losing either of them. Days passed, but the _Derriphan_ did not take the bait. Sensors left behind on the planet by the Republic would send a signal to alert the fleet if the Star Destroyer showed up. An unmanned probe had been sent to the secret First Order base the _Derriphan_ was orbiting when Ben and Rey paid them a visit, but it reported back that the ship was no longer there. There was no way for them to know where it was, and Ben and Rey couldn't just walk to the right portal and find out. It was frustrating to them after having become accustomed to being able to go anywhere they wished in only a moment to be restricted in their knowledge and abilities like normal people. 

The fleet was prepared to wait if it took a little while for the _Derriphan_ to show up, but after a week, Rey, Ben, Poe, Finn, and Han put their heads together, figuring it was time to try something more active to lure the Star Destroyer to Exegol. 

Their best idea would involve a double agent, so they contacted Lando and asked if anyone on his team had told him they were being asked to spy by the First Order. 

"As a matter of fact," Lando informed them, "one of the defectors, a man named Ballart, was very upfront with us right away that the First Order expected him to act as a double agent, and he successfully convinced them that he was loyal to them. We've let him slip little bits of intelligence to the First Order occasionally to keep them believing he's helping them." 

"Can you trust him, Lando?" asked Han. 

"I believe so. We've chosen only the defectors that seem most trustworthy for our team, and no one has showed any sign of disloyalty. Of course, the best double agents are the most convincing, so we've put heavy security measures in place with these defectors to make sure none are moles. We sweep constantly for unauthorized communication devices, and we assign at least one Resistance member to be with each of them at all times. I'm confident Ballart will help you." 

"Excellent," Poe replied. "We need him to contact the First Order and share that he overheard Lando telling someone that now that the survey of the planet is finished, the Jedi Rey and her Padawan Finn are going on a trip to explore Exegol and find out its secrets. Ballart will also say that the man Lando was speaking to told Lando that the survey team found a storehouse of kyber on the planet. If the prospect of taking out the last two Jedi in the galaxy and getting enough kyber to rebuild their array doesn't get them there, I'm not sure what will." 

"It is most certainly worth a try. I will make sure Ballart carries out the plan." 

Lando reported back later that day that everything was in motion and Ballart had played his part very convincingly. "He should be an actor when this is all over," Lando chuckled. 

The next day, sensors alerted the Republic that a Star Destroyer had entered the Exegol system. 


	21. Dyad

The Republic forces jumped into hyperspace on Poe's mark, and it took only a short time for the fleet to arrive. Ben and Rey had joined Poe in the command ship—the _Sunrise_ again—and another captain had taken the freighter, with instructions to bring it when she was called.

The _Derriphan_ was sitting like a juicy target above the planet, and the Republic forces spread out to trap it where it was. Poe called for a surrender, but the commander of the _Derriphan_ sneered. "Ah, just as we suspected—a trap," he informed them contemptuously. "Ballart is a fine actor, and the First Order did believe he was their man—until the last communication, at least. Two Jedi alone and vulnerable and a storehouse of kyber? Tsk, tsk. You should really be less obvious when you write your scripts."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Poe muttered.

"We'd rather die than surrender, but I don't think we'll have to. You see, the Emperor was not stupid enough to put all his eggs in one basket. We've spent the time since our crystal array was stolen visiting the Emperor's secret storehouses. We found enough kyber to rebuild our array."

"Sir, they're powering up their superlaser!" shouted the Twi'lek officer at the sensor station.

Immediately following this alarming news, fifteen Star Destroyers dropped out of hyperspace, trapping the Republic fleet between the _Derriphan_ and the new arrivals.

"Shields up! All craft, prepare for attack!" Poe called across the comm system. He switched channels on his comms mic and spoke to Han. "General Solo, call for reinforcements!"

The sensor station officer's voice cut across the bridge again. "Sir, their laser is turning towards us! We are their first target!"

Ben and Rey looked at each other, and neither of them even had to say anything; they just nodded in understanding of what they needed to do.

"We'll take this," Ben told Poe, then reached for Rey's hand as they opened their bond. Although they didn't need to touch to share their strength, it made both of them feel stronger. They both reached for the Force, gathering as much strength as they could, digging deep, drawing on their connection and their intense desire to save themselves, their friends, and their comrades.

Ben and Rey reached out their other arms towards the _Derriphan_. Pushing with all their might, they redirected the laser towards Exegol. Even though they had already had a small taste of what they could do together when they moved the crystal array on Ahch-To, the power that came out of them was still astonishing. Stopping a transport ship in flight was as nothing compared to what they were doing now, moving a massive laser installation against the power of all its mechanics. The firing sequence had already begun, so the commander of the _Derriphan_ could only watch in horror as his laser shot out at the planet below and destroyed it in a giant explosion.

Rey and Ben released their bond, gasping after their immense effort. All eyes on the bridge stared at them for a silent moment until alarms started blaring and everyone remembered there were fifteen other Star Destroyers out there.

The combined forces of the four battle groups did slightly outnumber the First Order forces, but their enemies wanted revenge and were likely to inflict a lot of deadly damage. "We're taking fire!" someone called out.

"All craft engage! Fighters, concentrate on taking out the _Derriphan_ 's shields and then their superlaser! We know how spectacularly they blow up!"  
Poe changed channels and called down to the Messengers' HQ. "Messengers, do your thing! I doubt anyone here is going to have a change of heart, but you never know!" 

"Yes, sir!" Rey heard Rose reply.

The battle raged, and Rey could feel that Ben was chafing at not being out there in a fighter of his own. Rey leaned over and spoke into his ear, cutting out the chatter around them. "How can we help the fleet?"

_"Can we still talk to each other this way?"_ Ben spoke into her mind. 

Her lips parted in surprise. _"Yes!"_

Ben smiled. _"Let's start by taking out the Derriphan's weapons."  
"Roger."_ Rey smiled, too. It was crazy to smile in the middle of the battle, but right now she felt like she—or rather, they—could take on the galaxy. 

Still holding hands, Rey let Ben take the lead in targeting each weapons emplacement, then together they overloaded each one.

Poe noticed the gun batteries exploding one by one. "Rey, Ben, do you have something to do with that?" He pointed towards the _Derriphan_.

"Just helping out the fleet, General," Rey responded.

Poe grinned. "I love it! Keep it up!" They obliged by taking out another Star Destroyer's weapons.

Ben began watching the dogfight intently. _"There's a TIE pilot out there who's really good. We need to cripple him and give our guys a chance to finish him off. Let's make a big ball of light in his cockpit so he can't see anything."_

_"I don't know how to do that!"_

_"But I do. Just lend me your energy. I'll take care of the rest, and you'll learn how it's done."_

_"Okay."_ Rey sent him her strength and he used it to light up the cockpit of one particular TIE. The TIE suddenly broke off its chase, and a U-wing hopped on its tail. The TIE's evasive action was all wrong, and the U-wing quickly obliterated it.

_"There, you see?"_ Ben said with satisfaction.

Han called Poe from the _Falcon_. "Poe! They're directing too many of their fighters towards your position. They're throwing everything they have at you, hoping to destroy the fleet's lead ship. Your shields are going to fail soon at this rate!"

"Shields at ten percent!" called out a Tholothian officer at the status monitoring station. Poe looked grim.

_"Remember the Force barrier I used to survive the TIE Whisper crash?"_ Ben communicated his idea. Rey immediately summoned a great deal of Force energy, as did he, and through the bond she felt a colossal bubble forming around their ship. 

"General, you're shielded now. One hundred percent. Not even a fighter can get through," she explained to Poe.

"What?" 

"The Force. I'll explain later. Just get down to the _Derriphan_ and train your guns on that superlaser!"

"Yes, ma'am." He called out to the helmsman, "Fly as close as you can to the _Derriphan_. De'Rhee," he addressed the weapons officer, "direct all firepower at the Derriphan! We need to take down their shields!"

"On it, sir!" "Yes, sir!" The officers answered.

Poe continued to direct the fighters and other craft. It wasn't long before close-range fire from the _Sunrise_ and the concentration of the fighters' attacks had the enemy's shield down. As some fighter craft closed in on the laser, several TIEs swooped in to stop them. From behind, another TIE blasted them to pieces. 

"Tell your Messengers I don't want any more planets blown up, no matter whose side they're on," the pilot's voice told them over an unencrypted channel. He flew away from the battle, and several other TIEs followed.

At that moment, the _Derriphan_ was engulfed in a fiery explosion and a cheer went up on the bridge of the _Sunrise_.

More Republic forces suddenly burst onto the scene, but with the _Derriphan_ gone, the Star Destroyer whose weapons Ben and Rey had demolished having fled into hyperspace, TIE pilots deserting, and the Sunrise invulnerable thanks to Ben and Rey's shield, it was really just a mop-up operation. 

As soon as the fleet was secure, Rey and Ben dropped their shield, exhausted. They'd used up an incredible amount of strength for a significant amount of time during the battle. Rey looked like she was about to faint, but Ben wasn't sure he could catch her. As Poe looked in their direction, he caught Poe's eye and pointed weakly at Rey. Poe rushed over and caught her as she started to waver. He called over a couple of officers. "Take these two down to the medical bay right away."

Rey started to protest. "I'm not....sick, just...tired."

"Fine, then you can rest down there. No arguments!"

Down in the med bay, after drinking the nutrient drinks the 2-1Bs made them take, Ben and Rey fell instantly to sleep.

~~~~~

Later, back on Ajan Kloss, the Resistance—now really just the Republic—celebrated. There would still be skirmishes as the First Order tried to retaliate for their catastrophic losses, but those skirmishes were the death throes of the Final Order. Between information from defectors and Ben, the Resistance knew where the First Order was keeping all the children they had kidnapped, and those installations would be liberated as soon as possible. The war was finally over and won, Exegol was destroyed, and the Sith were gone—at least for now.

As Rey's friends gathered together, Poe approached Ben and held out his hand. "Thanks for everything." Ben took Poe's hand and they shook. "Rey tells me you asked her to marry you. Welcome to the family. You have my blessing."

"And mine," added Finn.

"Mine too," said Rose, who sidled up to Finn and took his hand, beaming up at him. Finn looked down at her and smiled in return.

"Mine as well," chimed in Jannah, who had been with the Messengers during the battle, while her father stayed on Rattatak, saying he never wanted to be in combat ever again. Rey was sure Threepio—who for once had been able to stay and perform the duties for which he was programmed instead of becoming an involuntary participant in a battle—had heartily agreed.

"And mine," added Zorii, who had been flying an X-wing during the operation. She really was perfect for Poe. "Although you don't know me from the next person, but Rey's my friend, so you'd better treat her right."

Han sauntered up during this exchange, followed by Chewie. "I echo that, but I know you will."

Chewie vocalized his agreement and slapped Ben on the back.

Soon the men and women each gravitated into their own groups, with the gals chattering excitedly about Rey's wedding. Jannah thought they should all go with Rey to Hosnian Prime to shop for wedding dresses, which Rey thought was incredibly ironic, but also totally fitting. "As one of the greatest heroes of the war, you'll never have to worry about the cost of anything for as long as you live! You can dress like a queen!" she gushed.

"You should totally arrange for the wedding to be on Naboo, where Ben's grandmother was queen," Rose sighed.

As Zorii started making a suggestion, Rey felt a tug in her mind. She looked over at Ben, who was gazing at her around the heads of the conversing men. _"I don't care what you plan with those girls, as long as it doesn't prevent us from getting married as soon as possible."_

Rey smiled. _"That's what I want, too."_

A wide smile split Ben's face. _"I love you, Rey."_

_"I love you, Ben."_ As she gazed at his smiling face, she thought it was the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen, and she would never get tired of seeing it. She recalled the very first smile he had ever smiled in her presence. A minute thereafter, she had thought it would be the very last one she would ever see. Now she knew it was only the first in what would hopefully be a very long lifetime full of them.


	22. Epilogue

**_From the journal of Rey Solana Skywalker Solo_ **

Today marks five years since the victory over Emperor Palpatine and the Final Order fleet at the battle of Exegol. It's been a wild ride at times, but the Force has been with us every step of the way. Because of Ben's role in stealing the kyber crystal array out of the _Derriphan_ , as well as helping put an end to the First Order's hyperspace tracking abilities and aiding the fleet in the Second Battle of Exegol, the New Republic allowed him to live with me on Ahch-To, since its location remained a secret from the rest of the galaxy. But they asked his service in return. And since you could never coop Ben up on one isolated planet for the rest of his life, or keep the galaxy's best pilot on a tether, he finds satisfying purpose in carrying out covert missions for the Republic, doing things like rescuing slaves, tracking down dangerous criminals, and using his knowledge of the First Order to find and destroy its last enclaves and hideouts. Since he was eager for the galaxy to see and believe that he had changed, it chafed him at first to think that few would ever know what he did on these missions, but eventually he found that humility was far more gratifying than the arrogance he once embraced, and that the anonymity that enables him to continue helping people is more rewarding than the notoriety he once craved.

There have been a number of occasions when Ben reached out to me in the Force while he was on a mission. No matter where he is in the galaxy, I can hear him and connect with him. Through our bond, I've been able to give him additional strength when he was in tight spots and even pass him a couple of items he needed. In fact, he always leaves one of his blasters at home in case he needs me to give it to him while he's on a mission! Sometimes when he's gone and I miss him, I call out to him, and he's always there to hold me close and tell me he'll be back as soon as he can.

When he's at home, Ben helps instruct the students at the Jedi academy. At first, he was afraid to, but I convinced him that there was no better person to help the students deal with their dark sides—because we all have one—and teach them from first-hand experience its dangers and traps and how to avoid them. At first, it was painful for him, but with the role has come even more personal healing.

Despite being willing to teach the students, he won't teach lightsaber combat and refuses to spar with anyone, even me. Especially me, I think. I could really use his help since he's better at one-bladed swordsmanship that I am, but I know it dredges up memories of things he is deeply ashamed of, so I learned to let it go a long time ago. He practices alone, and sometimes I sit and watch him with his blue saber—the Skywalker family saber—and my heart swells so much with pride in him that it hurts. No one but the two of us will ever know the true extent of all he did to save the galaxy and heal many of the ugly wounds in his past. The secrets will die with us, as they should. 

Ben still calls me his Light, and I call him my Knight, for that is what he truly is. He's already proven he is willing to die for me, and I know he would do the same for our precious children—Tienna, who is 3 now, and baby Javen. It is easy to see they are prince and princess of his heart. And prince and princess are what they are in fact, now, too. The Society of Alderaanian Exiles stripped Ben of his title when he became Kylo Ren, but after his return to the light, they eventually narrowly voted to reinstate it. I think that once we had Tienna, they just wanted to bestow titles upon his children and see the House Organa continue in memory of Leia and Alderaan. Whatever their reasons, it doesn't bother me that I'm officially a princess! The royalty of Naboo, on the other hand, is elected, but the descendants of former Queens are still held in high regard there. We can feel that both our children are strong in the Force, and Tienna is already taking Jedi training. With all this heritage, who knows what role they and their future siblings—for Ben and I both cherish our family and hope there will be more—will play in galactic affairs. But Ben well remembers the pressure of being the son and nephew of Rebel legends, and we hope nothing more for them than that they become people of character and compassion who serve the will of the Force.

Many people don't trust Ben and never will, but we have dozens of students with forgiving hearts. I feel so inadequate most days to train the next generation of Jedi, and the weight of the future of the Order often weighs heavy on my shoulders: "A thousand generations live in you now," Luke said to me. The trove of Jedi artifacts Ben and I saved is a treasure, and spirits of Jedi past still visit us and teach us lessons on rare occasions when we're most discouraged. Besides that, an older Togruta woman named Ahsoka Tano showed up one day and asked to join our endeavor. She was once Anakin's Padawan, but told us she left the Jedi Order, which is how she managed to survive the purge. She explained that she had waited many years to see a new Jedi Order rise from the ashes—one that understood the will of the Force better than the one she had been a part of. Luke Skywalker was a great man, she said, but he did not understand the Jedi's mistakes—until the failure with Ben. She has been a gold mine of wisdom and experience. I recognized her voice as one of those I heard on Exegol giving me strength, but she wasn't dead like the others. She had a vision and knew the Force needed her to speak to me and give me strength, so she projected her voice from afar—much like how Luke projected himself on Crait—and transferred what energy she could to me.

Yet even with all this guidance, all too often, I find myself fearing that we will make mistakes in teaching our students that will have long-lasting repercussions. Ben reminds me that fear is from the dark side, and that the Force will be with us. But there are other times when our roles are reversed. He gets a haunted look in his eyes and I can feel the terror inside of him when he worries that one of our students or children might fall to the dark side as he and our grandfathers did. I put my hand on his heart and send all the love I can in those moments, and it shatters his waking nightmares. Neither of us could undertake any of this without the other. 

We also tell each other to think of all the good things happening here as we try to bring balance to the Force and avoid not only the sins of the Sith but the mistakes of the Jedi past. Luke was half right when he said that the Jedi needed to end for the good of the galaxy. Not the Jedi, but some of the things they believed, and some of what they became. We teach our students that all our emotions are natural and a part of what makes us luminous beings, but that it's in the actions we take that we choose dark or light. We accept students of all ages, and when our pupils are young, we encourage family visits and trips home, and we even have some families who choose to live here with us. Couples are allowed to marry and have children. And when we find orphans who are strong in the Force, we bring them here to live—at least until they are done training and begin to choose their next path—and treat them like family. Ben and I once had no family, but now we have more than we could have imagined! 

Speaking of family, Tienna just loves her Grandpa Han, who visits often, ferrying students and their families, Republic officials, supplies, and other miscellaneous items on the _Falcon_. Chewie comes with Han on occasion, but after over fifty years with Han, Han basically ordered him to go home and spend time with his own family. Han told Chewie that he wouldn't be honoring his life debt if he didn't do as Han wished! Chewie's son is a pilot too, and we look forward to seeing him when he comes with Han. Sometimes Lando and Jannah make the passenger and supply runs, and we always have a grand time when they visit. Lando and his team were never able to find Finn's family, but in addition to becoming part of our Jedi family, he married Rose. She also had lost all of her family but now is very content to live here among our community of adopted family. Plus, she and Finn are going to have a little youngling of their own pretty soon! 

Even those of our family who are gone are not really gone. I'll never forget the first time Luke and Leia appeared to Ben. Leia's love emanated so brilliantly from her, and though Ben already knew she forgave him, it went a long way towards healing his broken heart to ask her forgiveness, then look into her eyes hear her say it. Luke and Ben's reconciliation was just as satisfying. Even though Luke, from his vantage point on the other side, already knew the truth about what really happened regarding the destruction of his Jedi temple and the death of his students, I could see a weight lift from Ben's shoulders when he finally got a chance to explain everything and set the record straight.

It seems silly to mention droids when I'm talking about family, but after all we've been through, they seem like family! C-3PO and R2-D2 came with us when we started this Jedi Academy, and I could not imagine living here without them! I wouldn't be able to teach many non-Basic speakers if it weren't for Threepio, and because I can, our academy is so much richer. Artoo helps fix all sorts of things around the place and is an absolutely perfect companion to Rose, our handiest resident. Plus he just generally makes our lives better with his cheerful demeanor. D-O had no home, so since he seemed to take a liking to me, we brought him along, too. I miss BB-8, but I could never separate him from Poe. Poe, Zorii, and their son Evander (and of course BB-8) come to visit sometimes, and it's so good to have our trio—Finn, Poe, and me—back together again. Friendships forged in fire are forever.

The galaxy has had five years of relative peace with the final destruction of the Sith and Exegol. The devotees of the dark side are always out there, though, and they never rest. With the Force as our ally, we prepare at all times for the day when we will have to meet them.


End file.
